08-29-24 Rockwall Heath
This Thursday evening, as high school stadium lights begin to illuminate the Texas sky over Lake Ray Hubbard, God will start to turn the thermostat down from the mid-90s to the mid-80s.
Thank you, God.
It is still August and it’ll still be hot until the sun sets. But high school football in the 80s (with a breeze) works.
The Scots open the season Thursday evening against the Rockwall Heath Hawks. The main storyline for this game is the reunion between Highland Park head coach Randy Allen and Heath head coach Rodney Webb. For several years the two coaches opened the season against each other when Webb was the Rockwall head coach. Those games were all explosive, competitive, high-scoring and incredibly entertaining.
For one brief shining moment in 2022, Webb retired from coaching and became the Athletic Director at Highland Park, where he did an admirable job. A year later an unexpected head coaching opportunity came up at Heath and Webb was lured back into coaching.
Last year his Hawks went 9-3 and were area finalists. Their enrollment is 36 students short of 3,000 so they remain a solid 6A program. They return seven starters and like Highland Park, they simply reload each year.
The challenge is interesting for Coach Allen, who worked closely with Webb and talked football strategy for hours with him. So now as an opposing coach, Webb knows the Scots as well as anyone in the state.
The Scots have four talented quarterbacks who have been competing for the starting position. Senior Sam Montgomery, senior Anderson Jackson, junior Chuck Smith and sophomore Buck Randall make up a strong quarterback room. “We’ve got four winners at quarterback,” said Coach Allen, “and they were each given equal opportunity to compete for the starting position. Due to his balance of his throwing and running, Buck Randall will be the starter.”
The HP running backs are James Lancaster and Matthew White, with Isaiah Lee coming in off the bench. Starters on the offensive line are center Tripp Townsend, guards Will Ogle and Gage Clark and tackles Stuart Allday and Grayson Davenport. After last week’s scrimmage, David DeVega has earned some playing time. The four receivers are Benton Owens, Paxton Smith, Brandon Lilly and Cannon Bozman, who is armed with sprinter speed.
HP linebackers are superlative this season, beginning with 2023 district defensive MVP Jack Morse and all-district Anders Corn. Beau Jones joins Morse at ILB and Jack Steed joins Corn at OLB.
The defensive line starters are ends Daniel Turner and Hank Leigh and nose Amin Elahmadi. Corners are Bryce Laczkowski and Angus Wall. Safeties are Brady Ray and all-district Jackson McGinley.
Kickers are Sutton Stock and Reece Tiffany. Handling the punting is William Whitaker. The holder is Anderson Jackson and the snapper is Cameron Cason. Punt returner is Matthew White and kickoff returner is Cannon Bozman.
What should HP fans look for this Thursday in Rockwall? 1) Jack Morse’s high energy defensive leadership; 2)Buck Randall’s ability to heat up the Hawks defense with his arm and his legs; 3) Enough depth at DB and receiver that those guys might need to charter their own bus; 4) Winning this game would be the first step for a Scots 10-win season, which would be their 12th straight; and 5) Heath Coach Webb developing sudden amnesia on Thursday.