HLT shutout by Martensdale, set to take on Wapello for Homecoming

For the second week in a row, a long return on the opening kickoff set the tone for the Highland-Lone Tree football team.

This week, it was Martensdale-St. Marys’ Hunter Dooley taking the ball 85 yards to the end zone to kick off a 44-0 Blue Devil rout over HLT.

After going three and out on their opening drive offensively, Tyler Pierson gave the visitors the lone shock of hope they’d see all night, as the senior picked off a go route along the left-hand sideline.

“Ty is an energy bug,” HLT head coach Thayne McElhinney said. “He just flies around, and that was a big play for us. I was hoping we could capitalize with a good drive on offense, and unfortunately, we couldn’t, but that kept us in the game.”

After that, it was all Martensdale.

The Blue Devils ran the ball down the middle of the Highland-Lone Tree defense all game, averaging 13.4 yards per carry.

On the other side of the ball, HLT netted zero rushing yards and only 12 total yards on the night.

Despite the struggle, McElhinney was optimistic about the team’s growth from week zero to week one, particularly along the offensive line.

“We changed some of our schemes in pass protection to help [the offensive linemen] out, and I thought they did a good job,” McElhinney said. “At the same time, we prepared for a completely different front because of the film we saw from last year, so they were thrown off in the first half, and we had to make some adjustments at halftime to see that odd front they were giving us.”

Junior quarterback Caleb Wheeler went 5/16 on the night including an interception. His top targets were seniors Hunter Seibel and Garrett Beeson, each of whom caught two passes for five yards.

Defensively, Wheeler was the team’s leading tackler with nine total and eight solo tackles. Sophomore Jonas Koedam and junior Jarrett Brackin combined for the team’s only TFL.

With the loss, HLT fell to 0-2 with a combined point spread of 99-6 across the first two games.

Highland-Lone Tree will have its first home game in 20 years on Friday, when Wapello will come to town as Highland celebrates homecoming.

Scouting Wapello

After a surprisingly dominant offense last year carried the Indians to their first winning record since 2021, a much younger and smaller Wapello squad is looking to rebuild.

Then-senior quarterback Rowan Atkinson was the chief reason for the Indians’ success a season ago, as he led district A-5 with 22 total touchdowns and 1339 passing yards.

Now, the offense leans heavily on junior running back Edgar Vazquez, who averaged four yards per carry on 22 touches in Wapello’s season-opening loss to Louisa-Muscatine.

Wapello utilized two sophomore quarterbacks in its season opener. The more efficient of the two was Kendyn Lanz, who went 3/7 with an interception and passed for 41 yards while running for 89 yards and a touchdown. Kody Marlette went 1/9 through the air for 23 yards.

Defensively, Vasquez and Lanz are joined by senior Kinnick Richenberger at the top of the scouting sheet. Vasquez and Richenberger tied for a team-high two TFLs in week one, while Lanz led the team with seven tackles.

Freshman Gaige McConnell forced the team’s only turnover of week one, returning a fumble recovery for his first career touchdown.

Kickoff between HLT and Wapello is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday at Highland High School.