Hurricanes pick up first win
SHENANDOAH — Hightower forced three crucial turnovers, played smashmouth run defense and ran the ball hard to post its first win of the season, 28-25 over The Woodlands on Friday night.
Hightower scored twice off turnovers in the second half at Woodforest Bank Stadium to secure the victory. The Woodlands scored with 1:14 left to play but was unable to recover the onside kick.
The Hurricanes (1-1) came into the week ranked No. 8 in Class 5A in the Houstonarea media poll, while The Woodlands (1-2) was ranked No. 16 in Class 6A.
Coming off idle dates, both teams had two weeks to prepare for this game, which featured four lead changes.
The Hurricans lost by 10 to Westfield on Oct. 4, while the Highlanders rolled past Lamar.
“(The Woodlands coach) Jim Rapp runs a first-class program all the way,” Hightower coach Joseph Sam said. “Games like this are the reason we play this schedule. Our kids need to be thrown into the fire. Did we make mistakes? Absolutely. But our kids fought their tails off and, at the end of the day, that’s all you can ask for. This is a great program win against a highquality opponent.”
Rapp was pleased with the effort against Hightower, a playoff team last year at 6-5 out of a tough 5A district.
“That’s a quality football team,” Rapp said. “Hightower is a really good football team with a lot of great players on both sides of the ball.”
The 1-yard touchdown run was the popular choice for both teams in the first half — all three combined TDs were scored that way.
Hightower got on the board first as senior Charles Shelling pushed through at the 4:39 mark of the first quarter. Shelling totaled two touchdowns and 128 yards on 22 carries for Hightower.
He extended drives and picked up chunks of yards after first contact on numerous attempts.
“He’s one great tailback,” Sam said. “I’m going to tell you right now — (colleges) better be looking for him because if you’re looking for a guy, he’s it. But at the same time, Charles Shelling isn’t Charles Shelling without his O-line. I thought our O-line blocked their tails off tonight.”
With 50 seconds left in the first quarter, The Woodlands senior kicker Trey Harrison kicked a 30-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 7-3.
The Highlanders then gained the lead in the second quarter after a 13-play drive. Senior quarterback Connor Dechiro dove into the end zone through the line for the 10-7 edge.
The Hurricanes had some marching of their own to do as executed a 12play drive, with quarterback Jakolby Longino, a UTEP commit, capping it with a run around the left corner for a 14-10 advantage.
With less than a minute to go in the half, The Woodlands was driving until Dechiro was intercepted by Hightower junior Julian Payne at the 1-yard line.
The Woodlands went back up on its first drive of the second half. Senior running back Lane O’Brien pushed through for a 4-yard TD run at the 9:21 mark.
Hightower retook the lead at the 5:01 mark of the third quarter. After Kyshun Smith’s interception at The
Woodlands 33, it took the Hurricanes just three plays to score with Caleb Douglass hauling in a 23-yard pass from Longino to make it 21-17.
Payne stopped another Highlanders drive with another INT midway through the fourth quarter, and the Hurricanes converted another touchdown off of it.
Sam lamented a young and inexperienced defense and Payne, having two interceptions total, playing a new position.
“They’re competing and they’re getting better,” Sam said of his defense. “That’s all I care about. We had some kids grow up tonight.”
On fourth-and-goal with 2:53 left, Shelling pushed home a 1-yard score to make it a two-possession game in favor of the Hurricanes.
With 1:14 to play, The
Woodlands senior Jack Calhoun caught a 20-yard TD strike from Dechiro in the back corner of the end zone.
“At the end, we didn’t quit,” Rapp said. “We kept fighting and scored the touchdown and got the 2point conversion and gave ourselves a chance. But there’s some things offensively we have to work on to get better.”
Longino recorded 124 yards passing and 31 rushing. The Hurricanes lost the total-yardage battle to Highlanders 355-285.
“Defensively, I’m proud of the way those guys stepped up,” Rapp said. “I felt like they played up to the tradition of playing defense at our school.”
O’Brien rushed for 82 yards and now has two touchdowns on the year. Dechiro passed for 218 yards, with Moore leading the receivers with three catches for 82 yards.
Hightower begins District 10-5A (Division I) play next Saturday against Foster.
The Woodlands receives its second idle date in three weeks. The Highlanders return to action in two weeks at Willis to start District 13-6A.
“Probably won’t play anybody next week,” Rapp said when asked of potentially adding a game. “I didn’t want to play anybody a week prior to district. I would have loved to find somebody to play last week. It just didn’t work out. We’ll be fine. We’ll scrimmage ourselves next week and we’ll be ready to go when district starts.”