Highlands football recovers to rout Ambridge in opener

By: Jerin Steele
Friday, August 25, 2023 | 10:23 PM

The second quarter of Friday’s season opener against Ambridge didn’t go quite as planned for Highlands.

Seven penalties and some mental mistakes curtailed the Golden Rams, and they found themselves in a game at halftime.

Their response?

A dominant performance the rest of the way.

Aaran Randolph and Luke Bombalski scored on touchdown runs 50 seconds apart in a 26-point third quarter, and Highlands pulled away for a 45-8 win over the Bridgers at Moe Rubenstein Stadium.

“Coach (Matt Bonislawski) definitely lit a fire under us at halftime,” Bombalski said. “He wanted to remind us what Highlands football is, and we came out and reminded everybody what it is.”

The Golden Rams (1-0) led Ambridge (0-1), 13-8, at halftime but went into the break with a sour feeling after costly penalties stalled what was a great start.

But on the opening drive of the third quarter, Randolph took over.

He scampered for a 32-yard gain on a quarterback keeper and two plays later scored on 39-yard run to make it 19-8.

Randolph finished with 113 yards on nine carries.

Highlands recovered a fumble on Ambridge’s possession, and on the next play Bombalski ran 38 yards for a touchdown.

Bombalski added another touchdown on a 5-yard run, and Julius Saunders scored on a 10-yard run to close out the huge third quarter.

Bonislawski was pleased with how the offensive line won the battle in the trenches over the final two quarters.

“We’re inexperienced up front, and we got our teeth kicked in up front by Shaler last week (during a scrimmage),” Bonislawski said. “We made some changes on Wednesday at practice, so two days before the game, which is a little unconventional. I was a little concerned with how long it would take. A drive? A game? A week? They gained confidence, and we started rolling. They played really well in the second half.”

Saunders added another touchdown in the fourth.

Bombalski got the scoring started with a 2-yard run on Highlands’ second drive. He finished with three touchdowns and 61 yards in his first game back after missing the end of last season because of a broken leg.

“It was amazing to be back,” Bombalski said. “I missed this so much. I put in a lot of work to get back here.”

Jordyn Tavarez intercepted an AJ Gerace pass on Ambridge’s next drive and returned it 40 yard to the end zone to make it 13-0. The Golden Rams forced three turnovers on the night.

“Our defense is solid,” Bonislawski said. “They fly around. We let the athletes make plays and bring pressure. It was a solid game.”

Ambridge’s lone score came in the second quarter after an 80-yard drive highlighted by big plays from Grant Udovich.

Udovich caught a 19-yard pass on a third-and-long and had a 20-yard run on a double reverse.

Those two plays helped set up a 5-yard touchdown run by Carlito Chandler.

Highlands jumped offside on the extra-point attempt, so Ambridge elected to go for 2 and Chandler converted to make it 13-8.

Chandler led the Bridgers with 65 yards on 23 carries.

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer

Tags: Ambridge, Highlands