Highland Loses First Home Game to Desert Ridge
October 27, 2017 by Bella Sisneros , Arizona State University
Tension was high both on the field and in the stands as the No. 6-ranked Highland Hawks hosted the No. 3-ranked Desert Ridge Jaguars, but ultimately the Hawks fell the Jaguars, 21-7.
The second half of the game was riddled with penalties and high emotions as pass interference calls were felt on both sides of the ball.
“It was tough, it was frustrating. It seemed like a lot of calls were going their way, but we just have to keep playing hard, that’s all we could do,” Highland junior wide receiver Noah Burdick said.
“I felt like I had to stick up for our guys. The refs weren’t the reason that we lost,” coach Hawks Brock Farrel said.
The Hawks kept with previous weeks and continued playing with more passing involved. But when put into scoring position, the Hawks came under pressure and ultimately couldn’t get the ball into the end zone.
“We had lots of opportunities to score and we missed them, really we didn’t play good enough to win,” Farrel said
The only score for the Hawks came from junior running back Kohner Cullimore late in the fourth quarter.
This game meant a lot in the region. A Highland win and a Mountain Pointe loss to Gilbert meant that a three-way tie for first place in the Class 6A Central region. Now the Hawks are looking forward to playoff seeding Saturday morning.
"We are going to be somewhere five through eight. I hope we’re not eight, but the math is so complicated so nobody knows so we are just going to show up and it doesn’t matter," Farrel said. "I’m about 99 percent sure that we are going to have a home game, which is a great thing to have. I love playing here in the Hawks nest, and it takes the third place team in the state to beat us here. If we could just have a great home game and I would just like to play someone that we haven’t played. So if we play someone we haven’t played then I think we’ve got a chance and we can play well and move on.”
With this loss, senior middle linebacker Tate Stevens said that they now have to focus on making sure everyone is healthy for the first playoff game and mentally prepared.
