RIVERSIDE

When Highland’s Sage Hartley-Norman ran around the right side of his offensive line for a touchdown in the opening quarter last Friday night, the Huskies had hit perfection.

Hartley-Norman basically walked into the end zone untouched.

Danville’s defenders had no idea which way the play was headed.

Highland’s stands exploded with cheers for its first home TD of the season.

All was good in Huskie country.

A minute later, not so much.

On the next play, a Highland kickoff, Danville kick returner Kessler Whaley caught the ball at about his own 10-yard line and sprinted down the middle of the field. He didn’t stop for 90 yards, scoring a touchdown that was the last score of a game won by the Bears, 14-7.

For the next three quarters, the Huskies and Bears battled in a night filled with crushing hits, spinning running backs, fourth down stops and even a few interceptions and fumbles thrown in.

When the dust had settled, there were no more scores and Danville walked away with a seven-point win.

“It was a game of just a few mistakes,” Highland head coach Cory Quail said. “And it’s not just one person or one play. It’s 14-7 at the end. We had a lot of opportunities where we could have moved the ball.”

The Huskies rolled up 211 yards on the ground, led by Hartley-Norman’s 72, but Highland did not hit on any of the six passes it attempted.

One of their mistakes, a false-start penalty, came late in the game when the Huskies were driving into Danville’s territory. An incomplete pass, following that penalty, secured a win for Danville.

For the first time since last September, the Huskies had lost. Since breaking a 15-game losing streak last year, the Huskies had won two consecutive games to end last season and won its season opener at North Cedar.

Friday night, they’ll go to Keosauqua to face Van Buren County, which lost both of its games to start the new season.

“It takes a family,” Quail said. “We talk family, we live family. The guys show up. The guys live that. We have an identity.”

That point was driven home during halftime of last week’s game. The Huskies had a drive in the second quarter halted by a fourth down stop deep in Danville’s territory. A running game, which thrives on misdirection with three running backs in the backfield, was working but had trouble reaching the end zone.

“We went in at halftime, and people are asking, ‘Should we switch to this? Should we switch to that?’”

Quail responded: “Guys, we don’t need to switch to anything. We have an identity and we play our football.”

Three interceptions by Danville, along with some other big plays defensively, slowed Highland’s offense.

“There were too many times we got put in long situations,” Quail said. “When we get behind the (first down) chains. … Last week we were in front of the chains the whole time. We had plays where we were in front of the chains. There were just too many times we had that play that would put us in the negative.”

And once in those long yardage situations, half of Highland’s passes were intercepted. Of the four passes thrown by Hartley-Norman, three were picked off, including two by Whaley.

Danville’s Byers Nealey had a game-high 15.5 tackles.

GAME SUMMARY

DANVILLE 14, HIGHLAND 7

Danville   14    0    0    0  --  14

Highland   7     0    0    0  --   7

D: Jaden Bauer 2 run (Aiden Konig kick)

H: Sage Hartley-Norman 1 run (Jared Diaz kick)

D: Kessler Whaley 90 kickoff return (Konig kick)

GAME STATS

PASSING: Danville, Jaden Bauer, 10-14-154, 1 INT; Highland, Sage Hartley-Norman, 0-4-0, 3 INT; Logan McFarland, 0-2-0.

RUSHING: Danville, Bauer, 12-94, 1 TD; Drake Bielser, 6-31; Tatem Sherwood, 3-27; Landon Seibert, 3-24; Mattix Fumald, 1-9; Highland, Hartley-Norman, 12-72, 1 TD; Jose Ramirez, 10-52; Colten Sypherd, 9-50; McFarland, 12-43.

RECEIVING: Danville, Bielser, 3-51; Seibert, 3-37; Kessler Whaley, 2-27; Sherwood, 1-23; Dillan Mason, 1-16.

HIGHLAND LEADING TACKLERS: McFarland, 7.5; Louis Horak, 7; Sypherd, 6.5.