With rain all week, the Highlanders were expecting less than ideal conditions as they traveled just a few minutes to George C. Marshall High School for their first district game of the season.
“It’s going to be rainy. It’s going to be muddy. It’s going to be nasty,” quarterback coach Ky Parrott said. “The team that doesn’t let that bother them will come out victorious, so it’s showtime.”
There was a light drizzle over the field as kickoff arrived. The team had been preparing for this game, with the knowledge that they were facing their first Liberty District team. Despite not being in their home territory, there was a certain determination and intensity within the Highlander roster.
“We’ve had a good week of prep, and we’re locked in. We took some things that we did last week and tried to apply that this week,” Parrott said. “It’s the real season. It’s conference play.”
The Statesmen run a traditional Wing-T offense, with an emphasis on unusual formations and a diverse run game, something for which the Highlander defense was not prepared. With numerous injuries to starting players and an unfamiliarity with Marshall’s game strategies, the Highlanders appeared less prepared than expected.
McLean struggled from the start, a three and out on their first drive led to Marshall blocking senior Nathan Bender’s punt, setting them up in excellent field position. The Statesmen were able to capitalize just two plays later, putting McLean into an early 7-0 deficit. McLean didn’t lose their confidence, with junior quarterback Christian McNeil launching a long pass to senior wide receiver Sebastian Carmanetes that brought McLean inside the 20-yard line.
“From just a quarterback standpoint, the first thing that we ask them to do is be fantastic leaders. The second thing that we talk about is being confident in being themselves,” Parrott said. “We have a lot of talented receivers on the outside, so they make it easy on our quarterbacks in terms of getting the ball out.”
Just a few plays later, a McNeill interception on fourth down led to a 102-yard touchdown on the return for the Statesmen. The mood of McLean’s fans now matched the gloomy, rainy weather, as the crowd realized the game would be a struggle. The first quarter ended with Marshall in the lead 14-0 and the Highlander spirit in the dumps.
The Statesmen started the third quarter off strong, with yet another rushing touchdown, upping the score to 21-0. The Highlanders made many advances to get in the red zone, but their drives kept ending with turnovers.
Another crushing blow hit McLean as junior wide receiver Steven Conroy was hurt and sent to the sideline with just minutes left in the second quarter. To add insult to injury, the Statesmen stacked on yet another first half touchdown in the little time left, this time through the air. The first half mercifully came to an end with the Statesmen leading the Highlanders 28-0.
The last two quarters told a similar story, with Marshall scoring two more touchdowns, making the game 42-0. Senior quarterback Henry Behrens went in during the third quarter, with the game impossibly far from their grasp. With four minutes left in the game, senior kicker Nathan Bender managed to put the ball through the goalposts, and the remaining crowd went wild, excited to see a non-zero number on the board for McLean.
The clock ran out, and the Statesmen began to celebrate the 42-3 victory. Although a crushing loss for the Highlanders, the team still has five district games to play.
“The first half of the season is gone, and we didn’t have any conference games there,” Parrott said. “We learn from games, whether that’s our wins or our losses.”
With a bye week next Friday, the Highlanders will have more time to prepare for their matchup against the Yorktown Patriots on October 10, another district rival who the Highlanders defeated last year for the first time since 1996. The team hopes to show up with the determination and strength necessary to prove their ability to the rest of the district.
“I feel that we could have played a better game, but we should go into the bye week ahead with a strong mentality,” junior offensive lineman Davis Johnson said. “We need to stay more locked in at practice and keep playing at a hard and physical level and use that to set a better standard for ourselves both during practice and games.”
