The Lake Highlands Wildcats moved up one spot in the SportsDay Dallas-area team rankings to No. 16 following their 24-19 win against Berkner that propelled them to the top spot in District 7-6A.
Lake Highlands football takes the field. Courtesy of Mike Duhon Photography.
Even against its stiffest competition in district play, Lake Highlands’ best players continued to perform.Â
Christian Rhodes, who was named a player to watch by SportsDay heading into the Berkner matchup, finished with 175 yards rushing and added five receptions for 57 yards. Rhodes continued to look like a bowling ball, breaking tackles and running over defenders at will throughout the game.Â
Another key contributor this season who stepped up against the Rams was Franklon Evans, who has been used as both a pass-catcher and a running back. Evans, who leads the Wildcats in scoring this year with 84 points, recorded two receiving touchdowns in the win.Â
This year, Evans and Rhodes have combined for 1,529 all-purpose yards and have scored 20 touchdowns total.
Lake Highlands (6-1, 4-0) will want to keep the ball rolling against Friday’s opponent: Irving Nimitz.
Nimitz has had a tumultuous season so far, going winless through seven games. Last week, the Vikings endured their most frustrating loss of the year against a 2-5 Irving Tigers team. Despite carrying a slim 17-14 edge into halftime, Nimitz was outscored in the third quarter en route to a 35-31 loss.Â
Record aside, the Vikings have employed a formidable rushing attack behind sophomore Jaylen Harris and senior Jevon Woolfolk. Against the Tigers, Harris averaged over 10 yards per attempt and carried the ball 16 times for 170 yards and two touchdowns. On 20 carries, Woolfolk was able to manage 110 yards and another two scores.
Through Week 8 of the season, Woolfolk leads Nimitz with 703 rushing yards on 120 carries for six touchdowns. Harris ranks second on the team with 557 yards on the ground and five trips to the end zone.
The passing game, on the other hand, has been essentially nonexistent. The Vikings’ quarterback, senior Cole Wallace, has thrown just seven passes all season. Of those, Wallace has completed five and recorded 83 yards for two touchdowns with zero interceptions.Â
Nimitz’s biggest day through the air came against Grand Prairie, when Wallace completed both of his two throws for 52 yards and a touchdown. The Vikings have yet to attempt more than two passes in a game this year.
In comparison, Wildcats’ quarterback Chuck Smith has thrown for 23 touchdowns on the season, over three times more than the number of attempted passes for Nimitz. His total passing yards (1,977) are nearly 24 times the amount of yards the Vikings have generated throwing the ball.
Given Nimitz’s lack of success this year, the Vikings might look to feature more of their passing game against Lake Highlands. Apart from Woolfolk and Harris, who have a combined three catches for 61 yards, junior tight end Kevin Rodriguez has two receptions for 22 yards. Rodriguez has gotten his work done in the end zone, where both of his catches have translated to scores.
Although the two teams’ records differ, the Wildcats will need to come prepared and focused to remain undefeated in district as Nimitz eyes its first win of the season.
Lake Highlands and the Vikings are scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. this Friday at Wildcat-Ram Stadium.
