Lake Highlands football will cap off its regular season at 7 p.m. Thursday against Irving at Wildcat-Ram Stadium.
The Wildcats take the field. Photo by Mike Duhon.
The Tigers (2-7, 1-5 District 7-6A) have struggled this season, triumphing in their only district win against 0-9 Irving Nimitz. That being said, the Wildcats’ defensive front will have to step up against an Irving team that has leaned heavily on its run game.
“They’re gonna be under center almost all the time,” Wildcats’ coach Cory Campbell said on the Boneyard Podcast on Monday. “You’re going to get a little bit more traditional play action than you do from the shotgun. They’re gonna run some play action (and they’re a) heavy run team.”
In Irving’s two wins this season, the Tigers have averaged 228 rushing yards. In losses, that number drops to just under 117 (not including the loss to MacArthur, for which statistics have not been posted).
“You win on first down against these guys and you stop the run, then that puts them in a spot that they’re maybe not as comfortable with,” Campbell said.
On the flip side, Irving has conceded around 200 yards on the ground per game, but that won’t change Lake Highlands’ offensive game plan heading into Thursday’s matchup.
“The philosophy is pretty simple. We’re going to do what we feel like our kids can do,” Campbell said. “It’s going to change. It’s going to be multiple. We want to get Franklon (Evans) and Christian (Rhodes) going in the run game. We want to throw the ball. We want to be multiple.”
The Wildcats (7-2, 5-1) are coming off a heartbreaking 21-15 overtime loss to Richardson, setting the Eagles up to claim their first district title since 1992 with a win versus Irving MacArthur. That game was also Lake Highlands’ first loss to Richardson since 1993.
After the game, the Wildcats subsequently dropped three spots in the SportsDay Dallas-area high school football rankings to No. 19, while the Eagles jumped from unranked to No. 18.
Despite the loss – and some officiating that Lake Highlands’ fans have called into question – Coach Campbell and the Wildcats want to put one foot in front of the other and finish the regular season on the right track.
“You can complain and make excuses and all the stuff,” Campbell said. “Or you can roll up your sleeves and go back to work, and that’s what we’re gonna do.”
With the playoffs already clinched, Lake Highlands has an opportunity to get back to its winning ways against the Tigers and set the tone for the postseason. Additionally, the Wildcats will get to celebrate their seniors in their final game at the Boneyard.
“You’re around them for four years and you get to witness the amount of work and dedication and sacrifice that they’ve poured into our programs,” Campbell said.
“When you think back on that, it just makes you proud that you get to be a part of young men’s lives like that. It’ll be kind of bittersweet, but at the same page, there’s still a lot of football to be played and we want to focus on that as well.”
Irving and the Wildcats will kick off at 7 p.m. Thursday at Lake Highlands. Tickets can be purchased through Brushfire.
