9-6-24 Lovejoy
Highland Park hosts Lovejoy Friday night at Highlander Stadium and it should be the last game this season that features the coaches as much as the players.
Everybody in this corner of the world knows that Scots coach Randy Allen the second all-time winningest coach in the history of Texas high school football. He has won four state championships at HP – 2005, 2016, 2017 and 2018. New Lovejoy coach Todd Dodge has come out of retirement to defend his seven state championships – four at Southlake Carroll and three at Austin Westlake.
Coach Allen is ranked second in playoff wins with 85 while Coach Dodge is ranked eighth with 70. Coach Allen is one of the few coaches in the history of Texas high school football to win three state championships in a row. Coach Dodge is the only coach to do it at two different schools.
More than most high school football games, this one will be a chess match featuring two grand masters. If you haven’t bought your ticket yet, go ahead and invest.
The Scots are coming off a solid win over a good Rockwall Heath team, 34-21, in the season opener. The biggest question surrounded HP’s new starting quarterback, sophomore Buck Randall. Was he ready for the speed of varsity football? He answered with the confidence and maturity of the Scots’ last starting sophomore quarterback, Matthew Stafford, in 2003. Randall completed 17 of 27 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 29 yards and another score. The game was not too big for him.
One of the biggest plays of the game for the Scots was Randall’s 17-yard TD pass to Harrison Cullum on a fourth down at the end of the first half. Most mortal teams would have settled for a field goal. The biggest play of the game for the HP defense was cornerback Angus Wall’s interception on the two yard-line and his nifty 98-yard return for a touchdown. After crossing midfield Wall and his entourage seemed to slow down after the defenders and got blocked or gave up their pursuit. After the game Wall admitted that he was winded after such a long run, which, by the way, featured some very impressive open field running.
Another HP highlight was kicker Sutton Stock nailing a 46-yard field goal. Syd Carter, our 1953 Scots legend, will remember when 46 yards was an NFL record.
Eight Scots caught passes from Randall, led by Cannon Bozman with 97 yards on six receptions.
Last week Lovejoy, ranked 16th in the state, lost a barn burner to Lubbock Cooper, ranked 20th, 46-43. The Leopards were led by quarterback Jacob Janecek, who completed 18 of 26 passes for 243 yards and five touchdowns. The Leopards’ top weapon is four-star receiver Daylan McCutcheon, a Florida State commit, who picked up 1,427 yards and 20 touchdowns last season as a junior. Jaymez Beaner is another serious threat at WR.
Last Friday QB Janecek accounted for 334 total yards and six touchdowns. This Friday he will be a key chess piece for Lovejoy as two legendary grand masters go head to head.
Is there such a thing as a high-scoring chess match?