HS Football: The Woodlands Runs Away with a Win in District Opener

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- The Woodlands Highlanders and Oak Ridge War Eagles competed against each other in their first district game of the season at Woodforest Bank Stadium Thursday Night. The Highlanders won the match up in a dominate fashion with a score of 45 to 17.

Its always an interesting match up between these two teams. The War Eagles coach Mark Schmidt was the previous head coach for the Highlanders until leaving in 2018. He had led the Highlanders to many district titles and a couple of state championship appearances. Coach Rapp on the other hand, was one of Schmidt’s key assistant coaches for many years before taking over the head coaching roll for the Highlanders. These two had coached together for years - so it’s always going to be interesting seeing what they throw at each other.

The game didn’t start off slow. Each team on their first drives were able to find opportunities in the in zone. Though, the big story of the night was the Highlanders defensive unit. After the first half, the War Eagles would not put any more points on the board. The defensive coach for the Highlanders – Bartolazzi – clearly put together a strong game plan against his former head coaches team.

How it went
In the Highlanders first drive Mabrey Mettauer would throw a 65-yard-long ball to Rebel. This allowed for Highlanders to get on the board first with Williams running the ball in for a 16-yard touchdown in the next play. This didn’t deter the War Eagles – they would answer back two minutes later with a touchdown. After Oak Ridge would kick off, the Highlanders answered back with 55-yard pass from Mettauer to Farrakhan for a touchdown. After multiple defensive stands by Highlanders and War Eagles – the score of the first score was 14 to 7.

In the second quarter DB for the Highlanders – Wei Wei – would cause a pass deflection in the red zone forcing the War Eagles to settle for a field goal on the drive. Later on in the quarter the Highlanders would throw a trick play out of the playbook for a clutch touchdown. Mettauer threw to Farrakhan who ran a flat route and then he threw to Gomez for the touchdown. With minute left in the quarter, Oak Ridge would score. Mettauer would throw another long pass for 67 yards to McShaffry getting the Highlanders on the 11-yard line with 30 seconds left in the quarter. Mettauer in the next play would break the pocket and rush in for 11-yard touchdown. The halftime score would be the Highlanders 28 and the War Eagles 17.

The Woodlands make one last successful drive as @MabreyMettauer runs it in before the half!

Halftime
The Woodlands - 28
Oak Ridge - 17 pic.twitter.com/J1I4301fHh

— Woodlands Online Sports (@WOLsports) September 9, 2022

The second half saw the Highlanders shut out the War Eagles and Mettuar passed for two more touchdowns – the recipients were Rabel and Gomez. The tempo for this dominate second half was sparked by senior linebacker Jacob Pondant making an interception from a tipped ball.

Both the Highlanders and War Eagles next opponent will be against New Caney.