Lions edge Highland at Homecoming

RIVERSIDE - A Homecoming game is ideally scheduled for a hoped-for victory. Highland had Lisbon Friday for its Homecoming and it seemed like good scheduling because the Lions had lost 13 consecutive games before winning against Belle Plaine Sept. 13. The Lions now have a two-game win streak after scoring with 46 seconds left to break a 12-12 tie and take a 20-12 victory over the Huskies.

'Our kids faced a lot of adversity in that losing streak and they learned from it,” Lisbon coach Phil Whitman said.

Highland still had a chance to send the game into overtime and nearly did just that. Connor Grinstead hit Mason McFarland in stride with a pass over the middle and McFarland took the ball down to the Lions' 12. A roughing-the-passer penalty moved the ball to the 6.

'That pass was one we needed at the time, that's for sure,” Highland co-head coach Joe Donovan said.

A bad snap put the ball at the 12 again, an incomplete pass followed, then Grinstead ran to the 4. A timeout allowed Highland to decide on a fourth-down play, but Cole Adamson was stopped short of the goal line with 2 seconds left.

'That was the play the kids wanted to run, so at that moment, you have to say, let's run it,” Donovan said.

The Huskies scored first on a 4-yard run by Grinstead on the first play after recovering a fumbled punt.

The Lions fumbled again on the first play after the kickoff, but three incomplete passes gave the ball back.

'Connor has played great for three games but he is just a sophomore,” Donovan said. 'He is a competitor and he will learn.”

Grinstead had 95 yards rushing on 12 carries. He had a 64-yard touchdown run called back because of a penalty.

The Lions put together a 13-play scoring drive that went 70 yards to tie the game at 6-6 with 10:03 left in the first half then went 85 yards on six plays to take a 12-6 lead with 5:42 before intermission.

'Lisbon really is a good team and they just executed well,” Highland co-head coach Scott Morel said. 'We knew we were going to be in a dogfight. I don't think there was a distraction with homecoming. We have weapons, but they did a great job of taking away what we usually do. They were better at the point of attack.”

'We have some very smart assistant coaches who do a real good job,” Whitman said. 'Highland has some studs. They have some athletes. We knew what we had to do to take the ball out of their hands and our kids did what we asked of them.”

The Lions got to the Highland 25 before halftime but consecutive sacks by Zack Lasek ended the threat.

McFarland returned the second-half kickoff 20 yards, then on third-and-six, Grinstead went 58 yards for a score to make it 12-12 with 10:36 left in the third quarter.

After a punt, the next three possessions ended with interceptions, two by Zane Arnold, who added a third with 4:45 left in the game.

'We gave some opportunities away,” Donovan said. 'We had crucial turnovers and we didn't take advantage of turnovers. It came back to hurt us in the end. Those are things that we haven't done. They did a good job of taking away our inside run game. Down the stretch, they earned it.”

By not capitalizing on the turnovers, the Huskies allowed the Lions to stay in the game and it 'came back to bite us,” Donovan said. 'We had some small opportunities within plays that we just couldn't take advantage of. The block in the back on the touchdown, somebody got pushed into him, but it is what it is. We had a great week of practice, so the kids were more engaged this week than they have been in prior weeks. It's a new season with district play starting and we have a chance to knock somebody off.”

Highland is 3-1 and plays at 4-0 BGM, a 21-13 winner over East Marshall Friday.