Lake Highlands led from start to finish on the road Thursday night to extend the Wildcats’ winning streak versus Richardson Pearce to 11 following a 49-13 victory.
Photography by Mike Duhon.
Lake Highlands punched first, leading 27-0 after the opening quarter behind strong play from running back and SMU commit Christian Rhodes. Despite having an opening-play touchdown wiped away due to a penalty, Rhodes finished the evening with 142 total yards and a score on a 14-yard dive to the end zone with 7:04 left in the second quarter.
The Wildcats’ Franklon Evans, who was named a player to watch this week by SportsDay, also made his presence felt in a big way. He first scored on a 1-yard rush to give Lake Highlands (3-1,1-0 District 7-6A) a 27-0 lead with two minutes remaining in the first quarter then got on the board again when he broke off for a 49-yard run to give the Wildcats their last points of the game with 4:26 in the third.
“(Rhodes and Evans) are so versatile,” Lake Highlands coach Cory Campbell said. “They both run the ball really well, catch the ball out of the backfield. It allows us to be very multiple and it puts the defense in a bind on how they’re gonna defend us.”
Week 3’s SportsDay Offensive Player of the Week, Chuck Smith, also impressed for the Wildcats. Smith completed 14 of his 21 passes for 243 yards through the air and a pair of touchdowns — one to Ollor Osarollor for 79 yards and another to Conrad Ince for 23 yards.
Smith also opened scoring on a 10-yard rush to give Lake Highlands a 7-0 lead with 8:35 left in the first quarter.
The Wildcats’ strong play in the opening half allowed some of the second-string players quality playing time, much to Coach Campbell’s delight.
“Those guys pour into practice every day, and video every day and weights every day,” Campbell said. “To be able to get to see those guys get on the field is super rewarding.”
The Mustangs, on the other hand, struggled to put drives together consistently. Outside of two touchdowns, Pearce (1-2, 0-1) looked overmatched.
The first of those scores came when Mustang quarterback Evan Roseberry found a giant hole and rushed 67 yards up the field to make the score 34-7 with 3:34 remaining in the first half. The second came on a 69-yard deep shot from backup quarterback Colton Waddle to Wyatt Walters with just 2:40 left in the game. That pass made the score 49-13, but it was too late for Pearce to mount a comeback.
The Mustangs will have a shot at redemption at 7 p.m. next Friday on the road against Jesuit (1-3, 1-0).
Despite the convincing win, Lake Highlands will try to clean up some things heading into next week.
“Special teams penalties, we had a couple of pre-snap penalties tonight. We got a long way to go,” Campbell said. “I talked to the kids just now – we’re gonna watch the tape in the morning and we’re gonna get back to work.”
The Wildcats return to action at 7 p.m. next Friday versus Irving MacArthur (1-2, 0-0) at Wildcat-Ram Stadium.
