No. 5 Blackhawk rolls past winless Highlands

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, September 8, 2018 | 12:33 AM

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There were a few questions going into Friday night’s WPIAL Class AAAA Northwest Eight Conference matchup between No. 5-ranked Blackhawk and winless Highlands.

Is Blackhawk really that good? And, is Highlands really as bad as its record showed? The answer could be yes and no, but one thing is for certain: the referees are still cleaning up the penalty flags off the field.

After taking a quick first-quarter lead, the Highlands defense gave up five unanswered touchdowns as Blackhawk went into Highlands Golden Rams Stadium Friday night and upended the Golden Rams, 34-14, and keep Highlands winless.

“We shot ourselves in the foot, and we can’t do that,” Highlands coach Dom Girardi said. “We play in a really tough conference. There’s no easy games, and there’s no games that you can come out and make mental and physical mistakes and get away with it.”

Highlands (0-3, 0-1) fell to 11-6 in home openers at Highlands Golden Rams Stadium and 0-1 in the Golden Rams’ new all-gold alternative third uniform.

Things were going well for Highlands early on. Senior running back Cam Taylor capped off a seven-play, 68-yard touchdown drive with an 8-yard run to give the Rams an early 7-0 lead. Then the second quarter hit, and it was all Blackhawk (3-0, 1-0). Senior quarterback Chance Liptak found an open Dylan Hildebrand for an 8-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 7-7.

“We came out a little bit slow, and that’s something that I know the entire coaching staff isn’t happy about,” first-year Blackhawk coach Zack Hayward said. “We weren’t happy with how the game started, but our guys fought back and played together after (Highlands’) first drive.”

Blackhawk came out and scored on every possession in the second quarter. A fumble by junior wide receiver Johnny Crise at the Blackhawk 20-yard line was picked up by the Cougars’ Carmen Campagna and returned to the Rams 20-yard line was the beginning of the Rams’ second-quarter undoing. A horse-collar tackle on Campagna moved the ball inside the 10-yard line, and two plays later, standout junior running back Marques Watson-Trent scored from 1 yard to give Blackhawk the lead for good at 14-7.

“I told our guys, ‘Hey do your job,’ and they did that in the second quarter,” Hayward said.

Watson-Trent finished with 125 yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns.

The story for Highlands was penalties. Cohen found sophomore wide receiver Kaeleb Radashak for a 35-yard strike down the Highlands sideline, but the play was brought back on a holding call. Cohen found Radashak again for a 35-yard pass that ended at the Blackhawk 1 in the third quarter, but again, a holding call brought the play back.

The Rams were called for 14 penalties that amounted to 122 yards. By comparison, the Rams offense put up 180 total yards. Cohen finished 7 of 19 for 63 yards and two interceptions. He was under pressure for much of the night as the Blackhawk defense recorded four sacks.

“We definitely had the momentum going there early on,” Girardi said. “Credit to them, and they know what they want to do and they come out in two tights and they want to run it.”

Watson-Trent came back and scored on a 28-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter to give the Cougars a 20-7 lead going into halftime.

Things didn’t get any better in the second half. The Rams went three-and-out on their first possession of the third quarter, and after a bobbled snap by punter Cam Taylor, Blackhawk took over at the Highlands 32. Three plays later, the Rams forced a fumble that was recovered by Radashak.

Noah Gillette’s fumble recovery at the Highlands 45 gave the Rams the ball back, but a drop by Radashak in the end zone on fourth down spelled the end to any comeback hopes.

Liptak came back and scored on a 2-yard keeper up the middle to extend Blackhawk’s lead to 26-7 midway through the third quarter.

“Highlands is a great team. Their offense is scary, and they’re one of those offenses that can score in a hurry,” Hayward said.

Josh Butcher scored on a 4-yard touchdown run to complete Blackhawk’s scoring.

Taylor scored from 2 yards with one second remaining to cap the Highland’s scoring. Taylor rushed for 80 yards on 15 carries to lead the Rams.

“There were more tears tonight than you normally see, which is good because there’s got to be a response to this,” Girardi said. “We need to feel that pressure a little bit and we need to click.”

William Whalen is a freelance writer.

Tags: Blackhawk, Highlands