Highlanders football team pulls away early to preserve perfect season

THE WOODLANDS, Texas -- Breaking the game open with two touchdowns in a span of 85 seconds just before halftime, The Woodlands Highlanders improved to 7-0 with a 42-2 victory over the Oak Ridge War Eagles on Thursday night at Woodforest Bank Stadium.

Watch game highlights here.

A touchdown run by The Woodlands’ Carlos Ramos and a pick-six interception return by teammate Grant Milton turned a 14-2 game into 28-2 halftime lead in the blink of an eye, and Oak Ridge (4-4) could never solve The Highlander defense to mount any kind of comeback bid.

“That was a huge momentum shift right there,” said Highlanders coach Mark Schmid. “We went down and scored, and then we made a great play on defense. Grant Milton picks it off in the flat, takes it to the house, and that turned the tide. They had a big uphill battle after that.”

Milton, the Player of the Game, corralled his second interception of the night after the ball ricocheted off the intended receiver. That pick not only ended the first Oak Ridge drive of the second half, but it also gave The Woodlands a short field at their own 42.

Watch the Player of the Game video here.

Highlander quarterback Eric Schmid completed three passes on the ensuing drive, the last of which was a sensational 39-yard touchdown pass to Kesean Carter. Carter will want this one in his highlight reel; he grabbed the ball, darted quickly toward the sideline and then spun back toward the middle of the field to lose his defender and race in for the score.

Lockhart West, who was 6-for- 6 on PATs, tacked on the extra point to make it 35-2 with 9:44 left in the quarter.

The Woodlands concluded the scoring with clock-crunching 15-play, 61-yard drive that took nearly seven minutes. Schmid’s three-yard keeper capped the march. He completed 16-of- 19 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns.

The Highlanders opened the game with an equally confident 75-yard drive which showed off their balanced passing and running games. Facing a fourth-and- one, Highlander tailback Jordan Talford broke loose for a 30-yard run, and one play later Schmid lofted a pass toward the end zone, hitting Dylan Casey in stride for a 30-yard touchdown. Casey also ran for a two-yard score later in the first quarter to make it 14-0.

Oak Ridge’s defense stiffened up after that, forcing a punt on one Woodlands drive and recording a safety when defensive end Gavin Franklin wrapped up Schmid in the end zone with 7:15 left in the first half.

But the Highlanders reclaimed control about five minutes later with their late surge. Ramos took a handoff at the 24, bounced off one defender and spun away from another for a touchdown run to boost the Woodlands lead to 21-2.

Ramos’ touchdown came with 2:20 on the clock, and then with just under a minute to play, Milton picked off a pass at midfield and dashed down the right sideline to swing all the momentum to the Highlanders.

“We did exactly what we set out to do when we started preparing for Oak Ridge,” said Coach Schmid. “That was to continue to play great defense, continue to play good offense and have a solid special teams/kicking game. We wanted to make sure we got better from last week [a 72-7 win over a previously unbeaten opponent], and I saw that in the way we ran to the football. By and large, we were in great position all night long to make great plays on defense, and offensively we continued to execute.”

Watch the the Game OnDemand here.