COLUMBUS JUNCTION

With both teams aiming to bounce back from lopsided losses, Columbus hosted Highland for a homecoming edition of a district battle between cats and dogs. 

Leaning on their offensive might and stingy defense, the Wildcats showed out in front of their home crowd, earning a convincing 48-14 victory over Highland on Sept. 27.  

“We just did not execute and that’s what it comes down to tonight,” Highland coach Cory Quail said after the game. 

“I thought our defense did some things and presented [Columbus] some challenges. We knew we were presenting ourselves with some challenges because we were putting some new things in, but I thought we had some great opportunities out there. We just left too many things out on that field.”

It was a dominant first quarter for the Wildcats, scoring 20 while holding Highland scoreless. The second quarter was more of the same. Columbus added two more touchdowns to their lead and the Huskies ended their two offensive drives with punts. 

What proved to be the difference maker in this game was Columbus imposing their will on the ground. The ground game worked wonders for the Wildcats and leading their rushing attack was Riley Kaalber. 

Kaalber, a senior, rushed for an impressive 242 yards and two TDs on 22 carries. As a team, Columbus rushed for over 300 yards and three TDs. 

“[Columbus] found us up the middle because we weren’t executing our job. What we had normally done in the past we had been really good about knowing we have a three by three yard window and we need to execute our job doing that,” coach Quail said. “And tonight we kind of went back to the old ways of seasons past and just doing some things where we weren’t focusing on where our responsibility was.” 

The Wildcats proved to be effective through the air too. It was an efficient night for Columbus quarterback Trevor Phillips, going 9/10 on passing attempts. The junior ended his night with 76 passing yards and three passing TDs.

On defense they collected three interceptions off of Highland, with one of them being a pick-six at the beginning of the third quarter. 

Trailing by 27 after the pick-six, Highland put together their first scoring drive of the game. On fourth down, Sage Hartley-Norman used toughness and his speed to break away from the Columbus defense and find the endzone for a 55-yard rushing TD. 

In the final quarter the Wildcats scored an insurance TD, their last TD of the game, and with one minute left, Highland started their final drive of the game with an excellent punt return from Logan McFarland. 

Set up with good field position, the Huskies found the end zone once again, a receiving TD, thrown by Hartley-Norman and caught by freshman Liam Roberts. This was Roberts’ first TD catch of the season.  

“We have guys who are putting in a lot of time, young, like Liam, old, like Sage and Logan and those guys, they battle till the end,” coach Quail said, 

“That’s the one thing we love about our program. These guys, these seniors, have really poured in their heart and soul, and you see that building into the community. We’re really excited about how the guys have done things the right way building Highland culture, we just, we just got to clean up our mistakes on the field. That’s the big thing. I think once we do that, we’ll get back to playing some very capable football.”

A successful two-point conversion rushed in by Colten Sypherd gave Highland their final score of 14. Sypherd, a senior, led the Huskies in tackles (9). 

For the Wildcats this was their fourth consecutive victory over Highland, with the Huskies last win over Columbus coming in 2019. 

Up next for Highland (2-3) is a home district matchup against the Pekin Panthers (4-1) on Oct. 4.