No there were no actual fireworks at The Boneyard Friday night like they had over at Jesuit a few weeks back.
But when LHHS sophomore kicker Mitchell Henton put the 29-yard field goal through the uprights with only four seconds left on the clock, it did seem there was an explosion at Church Road and White Rock Trail.
Lake Highlands earned “the best team in Richardson ISD” bragging rights by beating Richardson and Berkner this season. But they aren’t satisfied with that.
South Garland, a team the Wildcats faced in a scrimmage game in the preseason, is up next on the schedule Saturday at noon at SMU’s Ford Stadium. After that, its unknown what will happen, but here’s a look back at a couple of thoughts from Friday night.
- By my count, that’s 15 consecutive wins against Richardson. That’s a dominant record for anybody, and it’s very impressive considering the Eagles program has gotten much better in the last few years.
- Torrence Carr played only a small portion of the game Friday night and Jordan Booty only had two carries. Miles Jackson was the backup quarterback, and he looked pretty skilled. I imagine both sides reeled it in a little bit on playing time for their kids due to the playoffs coming up.
- Neither team punted until the second half. The Wildcats punted four times and Richardson punted once. So why was the score so low? Clock management, with each team marching down the field with a heavy hand in the run game.
- Richardson fumbled three times and never lost the ball. Lake Highlands fumbled once and gave it up once. One of the scouts from South Garland announced that the ball was bouncing the Eagles way and they were going to get lucky and win the game. He left in the third quarter.
- I said in my game preview that it would come down to execution in the red zone, and both teams had plenty of problems with false starts, personal fouls and loss of yards once they got inside the opponent’s 20. Even on the last drive Lake Highlands got to the Richardson 11-yard line on a sweet 34-yard pass from Michael Ketchmark to Anthony Harris, they followed that up with two false starts putting them outside of the 20. The difference between touchdowns and field goals can hurt in the playoffs. The Wildcats are a really good offense that has proven they can move the ball, now if they can stay calm near the goal-line, they are going to be a chore to deal with in the post-season.
- The Eagles managed only 367 total yards of offense. That’s impressive work by the defense. Lake highlands only managed 321 yards, but they averaged 6.9 yards per carry on the ground and won the run-game battle 202 to 188. That was without Desmond Roland by the way.
- Speaking of Roland, I’m not certain what will happen in the playoffs. I hear he will be back, but the concern is that he can’t get that next gear still. Roland has a fun college career ahead, maybe he doesn’t want to risk that. Maybe the team has decided to just let him rest in hopes that he will be ready to go. There is no telling why he hasn’t played, but you have to think all decisions are made with his best interest in mind. He was suited up, he just never got in. BUT! If he gets back and is healthy, and DeVonte Sunwenghan is doing what he does, AND they start to turn Ketchmark loose a little bit in the run game, this offense starts to get very explosive. No not like fireworks, but big missiles-type explosive.
