Highland keeps rolling with drubbing of Whiting

Highland keeps rolling with drubbing of Whiting

Highland 46, Whiting 7

By Paul Honeycutt

WHITING — Highland senior linebacker Nick Johnsen said after the 46-7 win over Whiting that they can’t go 3-0 without going 2-0.

He was a large reason as to why the Trojans are now unbeaten after two weeks after the huge first quarter he and the rest of the Trojans had on Friday night.

Highland scored 32 first-quarter points on their way to the win and Johnsen needed just three plays to make a big impact.

Already up 7-0 thanks to a game-opening 94-yard kickoff TD return from Avion Wilson, he intercepted a bobbled ball from a Whiting receiver, then recorded a 46-yard catch to set up Josh Hubbard four-yard score, and the third play where he forced a fumble, setting up a Blake Vanek score from six yards out.

“I knew we’d have a good defense because everyone wants to work,” said Johnsen. “The hard work we’ve put in is unlike anything I’ve ever seen and it’s great to have 11 guys on the same page.”

Highland was up 19-0 within five minutes of the game.

After Whiting’s next three and out, Vanek ran one in from 70 yards out and to cap the massive quarter, he threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Jason Lawrence with eight seconds left in the quarter.

Hubbard added a three-yard rushing score and Lawrence recorded a 26-yard rushing TD in the second quarter to make the halftime lead at 46-0.

Vanek finished with 107 rushing yards, two rushing scores 93 passing yards with two TD throws.

“I gotta shout out the coaches for helping me out with my footwork and the O-Line for their hard work because they have grinded for the last year,” said Vanek. “I’m able to go through my progressions and process information more quickly now.”

Hubbard added two scores and 37 rushing yards while Lawrence rushed for 34 yards.

Whiting (1-1) got 109 rushing yards and a four-year rushing score from sophomore running back Demetrio Lopez and 60 rushing yards from junior Kamron Patterson.

Highland coach Pete Koulianos mentioned Vanek’s progression as a quarterback.

“One thing people don’t understand is the hard work Blake and the rest of the team have put in,” said Koulianos. “Blake and Max (Smith) had a QB battle last year and Blake never really took control until midway through last year.”

Koulianos also said he likes how the Trojans have started this year even though it’s only been a couple weeks.

“We beat a solid team in Griffith last week and executed much better (Friday),” he said. “The game has slowed down a little bit from this year compared to last, but we wanted to open up some more things here and we had a couple big plays give us momentum early.”

Highland 46, Whiting 7

Highland; 32 14 0 0 –46

Whiting; 0 0 0 7 – 7

H –Avion Wilson 94 kickoff return (Anthony Viadurri kick), 11:41 1st

H –Josh Hubbard 4 run (kick failed), 8:28 1st

H –Blake Vanek 6 run (pass failed), 7:29 1st

H –Vanek 70 run (Viadurri kick), 3:35 1st

H –Jason Lawrence 47 pass from Vanek (kick failed), 0:08 1st

H –Hubbard 3 run (Viadurri kick), 7:20 2nd

H –Lawrence 26 run (Viadurri kick), 1:44 2nd

W –Demetrio Lopez 4 run (Berner Garcia kick), 2:34 4th

Highland;Whiting

First Downs;4;9

Total Net Yards;279;231

Rushes-Yards;24-186;27-203

Passing;93;28

Comp.-Att.-Int.;2-4-0;9-18-2

Penalties-Yards;2-20;10-85

Fumbles-Lost;1-0;3-0

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – HIGHLAND, Blake Vanek 5-107, Josh Hubbard 7-37, Jason Lawrence 3-34, Dylan Zumm 1-3, Elijah Robinson 4-3, Gianni Hernandez 1-2, Sema’J Kirk 2-1, Joe Cirincione 1-(-1). WHITING, Demetrio Lopez 12-109, Kamron Patterson 3-60, Nick Davenport 5-31, Gabriel Burriss 1-6, Kasen Dunn 1-4, Nakiya Moran 1-2, Levi Huffman 4-(-9).

PASSING – HIGHLAND, Vanek 2-3-93-2-0, Cirincione 0-1-0-0-0. WHITING, Davenport 9-18-28-0-2.

RECEIVING – HIGHLAND, Lawrence 1-47, Nick Johnsen 1-46. WHITING, Patterson 2-11, Moran 4-10, Dunn 2-10, Joe Quiroz 1-(-3).