Highlanders return to stellar form with 42-7 defeat of Monterrey Tech

SHENANDOAH, Texas - Blaine Gillespie threw two touchdown passes and ran for another in a 28-point second-quarter explosion as The Woodlands High School football team ran past Monterrey Tech 42-7 Friday at Woodforest Bank Stadium.

Gillespie threw for 360 yards, completing 22 of 28 passes with no interceptions in marching the Highlanders up and down the field.

Gillespie threw a 62-yard touchdown pass to Houston Brown and tossed an 82-yard scoring strike to Tyler Patrick before scoring on a 1-yard run and the Highlanders enjoyed a 35-7 lead at halftime.

"It was good to respond back from last week's (63-10 loss to Katy)," Gillespie said. "It was a good all-around effort from the team for four quarters."

Running back Patrick Carr got the job done on the ground with 164 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 11 carries.

Carr scored The Woodlands' first two touchdowns on short runs of 6 and 2 yards before closing the scoring with a 15-yard touchdown run.

Brown led all receivers with 125 yards on four catches. Chris Warren added 53 yards on seven receptions while Sean McCanna finished with 79 yards on five catches and Jayme Taylor added 59 yards on three catches.

"I was really proud with the way the kids came out," Highlanders head coach Mark Schmid said. "We had a really tough defeat against Katy. You always wonder how your kids are going to respond something like that. Our kids came to work this week and played like they should play in this game."

The Highlanders (2-2) set their sights on District 14-5A play. They'll take on Conroe at 7 p.m. Friday in Buddy Moorhead Stadium.

"We're excited about it," Schmid said. We've been up against some pretty good folks getting ready for district. I think our kids are prepared."

Schmid said that containing Conroe's skilled players would be key.

"I saw them play against Aldine," he said. "They've got some great skilled players on offense. They can be explosive. It'll be a tall task for our defense to slow those guys down."