RIVERSIDE

The celebration along the Highland football sideline cranked up in the final minutes of the Huskies’ season-ending victory Oct. 13.

Nick Oriano, a senior, ran behind the team bench and back to the home stands to cheer it up with Huskie students and fans.

The rest of the Huskies did the same along the sidelines.

Head coach Cory Quail yelled “tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock!” as the final seconds ticked off the clock for the Huskies’ first shutout win in five years.

And after the 28-0 win against Wapello on Senior Night was finished off, these 18 Huskies ran through a tunnel formed by the school’s cheerleaders and students.

“It’s unreal,” Oriano said. “Last year we went 0 and 8. This year, we’re 2 and 6. It feels so good.”

Logan McFarland, a junior running back, rushed for 159 yards and two touchdowns. Junior quarterback Sage Hartley-Norman, who couldn’t throw because of an injury, rushed 20 times for 117 yards and scored the game’s first touchdown in the final seconds of the first half. Backup quarterback Garrett Beeson passed for the first touchdown of his high school career, a 20-yarder to Ayden Havel.

The win was Highland’s second win in a row following an 0-6 start. The Huskies hadn’t won two straight since the 2019 team won its first three games.

“We are so excited about what we were able to accomplish here at the end,” Quail said. “We set a goal, 2 and 0. We accomplished it. And now we’re going to build back to the future.”

The Huskies broke a 15-game losing streak Oct. 6, when they defeated Louisa-Muscatine, 20-18.

The victory boosted Highland to a sixth-place finish in District A-5 as the Huskies (2-6, 2-5 district) finished the season ahead of Wapello (1-7, 1-6) and Louisa-Muscatine (0-8, 0-7).

With a passing game out of the question, the Huskies established a rushing attack that topped 300 yards. They pounded out 94 rushing yards on their first possession, which ended just 1 yard short of a touchdown when Hartley-Norman was stopped on a fourth-down rush at the Wapello 1.

After Highland stopped a long Wapello drive at the Highland 1-yard line, the Huskies marched 99 yards for a score, all on running plays. And when was the last time that’s happened at Highland?

“Ninety-nine yards!” Quail said with a smile.

The scoring drive had dramatics of its own. On fourth down at the Wapello 2-yard line, with time running out in the first half, Hartley-Norman scored for a 6-0 Huskies lead. The touchdown came with 6 seconds left in the half.

Highland scored on its first two possessions of the second half, as well. McFarland scored on a 33-yard run with 9:52 left in the third quarter.

Then, on a fourth-down play with 9 seconds left in the quarter, Beeson, a freshman, faked a run and then threw a 20-yard pass to Havel for a score. Havel had floated behind the Wapello defense and was wide open when Beeson tossed his first career TD pass. It was Highland’s only pass of the game.

McFarland added a 36-yard touchdown run with 3:31 left in the game, running down the left sideline for a score.

Wapello quarterback Carson Belzer passed for 181 yards, but was intercepted by McFarland. Matthew Helscher led Wapello with 50 yards rushing.

McFarland led the Huskies with 8 tackles and Jackson Keller, a senior defensive lineman, had a fumble recovery in his final game.

GAME SUMMARY

HIGHLAND 28, WAPELLO 0

Wapello   0    0     0    0  --   0

Highland  0    6   16    6  -- 28

H: Sage Hartley-Norman 2 run (run failed)

H: Logan McFarland 33 run (Hartley-Norman run)

H: Ayden Havel 20 pass from Garrett Beeson (Garrett Beeson run)

H: McFarland 36 run (pass failed)

GAME STATS

PASSING: Wapello, Carson Belzer, 16-31-181, 1 INT; Jackson Lanz, 0-1-0; Highland, Garrett Beeson, 1-1-20, 1 TD.

RUSHING: Wapello, Matthew Helscher, 11-50; Lanz, 3-12; Jaren Frank, 3-10; Belzer, 2-5; Highland, Logan McFarland, 15-159, 2 TD; Hartley-Norman, 20-117, 1 TD; Colten Sypherd, 6-38; Jose Ramirez, 4-26; Beeson, 7-19; Ayden Havel, 1-2.

RECEIVING: Wapello, Helscher, 6-61; Garrett Cooley, 5-43; Lanz, 3-47; Highland, Havel, 1-20, 1 TD.

HIGHLAND LEADING TACKLERS: McFarland, 8; Isaac Kleese, 7; Tyler Pierson, 6; Sypherd, 6; Ramirez, 6.