By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
For the first time since 2014, the Highland Park football team had a victory to celebrate Friday night, snapping a 65-game losing streak with a 60-47 Meadowlark Conference win over Kansas City-Wyandotte at Hummer Sports Park.
The Scots, who had not won since a 60-26 win over KC-Harmon in Week 2 of the '14 season, trailed Wyandotte by as much as nine points and had to come from behind five times in the contest, but rode a huge performance from senior star Tre Richardson and 26 unanswered points in the second half to the streak-snapping victory.
Highland Park celebrates Friday night's 60-47 win over Wyandotte, which snapped a 65-game losing streak dating back to 2014. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Highland Park's Jermaine Monroe gets doused with Gatorade after picking up his first win as the Scots' head coach in Friday's 60-47 win over Wyandotte. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"I can't even hold it in right now,'' said an emotional Highland Park coach Jermaine Monroe. "I know this community has been waiting a long time for this, I know these players have been waiting a long time for this.''
Richardson, who has orally committed to New Mexico State, carried the Scots on his back for most of the night, rushing for 224 yards and four touchdowns on just 13 carries, catching a 51-yard touchdown pass from senior Kei'Juan Johnson and throwing for a 44-yard TD to senior A'Ydren Drew-Gregory.
Highland Park senior Tre Richardson accumulated more than 400 all-purpose yards and had a hand in six Scot touchdowns in Friday's 60-47 win over Wyandotte. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"I couldn't let the team down,'' Richardson said. "It was necessary to get past that streak and we did that. It feels amazing. What can they say about us now? We're 1-0.
"From the moment I woke up I knew it was going to be the game we broke the streak.''
Including 86 yards on two kick returns, Richardson finished the night with 405 all-purpose yards.
"I told him, 'Look, you just put the whole community on your back and you brought us a victory man,'' Monroe said. "Him and his teammates brought this victory in and I'm just so proud of my boys.
"The monkey's off our back and we've got to get back to coaching because we don't to have just a one-win season, we want to win multiple games.''
Sophomore Jamon Wilson added 92 rushing yards for the Scots, including a 41-yard TD run, on nine carries while Johnson threw for the touchdown to Richardson and also ran for a score and Drew-Gregory added a second touchdown on a 95-yard Pick-6 which turned out to be one of the biggest -- and strangest -- plays in a game that lasted well over three hours and included more than 200 total penalty yards.
With Wyandotte leading 25-22 and threatening to add to its lead, Drew-Gregory picked off a Shaun Carter pass at the Highland Park 5-yard-line and raced down the sideline into the end zone on the final play of the first half, beginning his TD celebration just before he got into the end zone.
And that's when things got weird.
The officiating crew flagged Drew-Gregory for unsportsmanlike conduct for his celebration and initially wiped his touchdown off the board.
As a result, Highland Park went to the locker room thinking it was behind 25-22 only to find out when it returned to the field that the TD had been restored, giving the Scots a 28-25 advantage.
"We went in at halftime and we could have went to that player that made the mistake and chewed him out and jumped down his throat,'' Monroe said. "We didn't do that. He made a mistake, we're going to fix it and we're going to move forward.
"Then we get (the touchdown) back. I tip my hat to this referee crew because they actually called Mark Lentz (KHSAA administrator) to ask about the rule and we came back out and then they changed it. I did tell that player, 'You better go to church on Sunday.' ''
Wyandotte would lead two more times before Highland Park broke open the contest with four straight scores.
Richardson started the game-clinching rally with a 68-yard run while the Scots also got an 8-yard TD run from Johnson and 22 and 6-yard Richardson touchdowns to put Highland Park in front 60-41 with 5:01 left.
Wyandotte added one final TD on a 10-yard run from senior Jordan Gragg, who had 185 rushing yards and five touchdowns on the night, but it was too little too late and Friday night belonged to the Scots.
"One of my good friends, Ryan Kelly, who I coached with at (Topeka West), texted me and said, 'Forget that streak, just focus and get the win,' '' Monroe said. "We're done with the streak. It's behind us, it's gone, let's move forward.''
HIGHLAND PARK 60, WYANDOTTE 47
Wyandotte (0-1, 0-1) 19 6 16 6 -- 47
Highland Park (1-0, 1-0) 16 12 14 18 -- 60
Wyandotte -- Carter 24 run (Garcia kick)
Highland Park -- Richardson 51 pass from Johnson (Wilson run)
Wyandotte -- Gragg 3 run (kick blocked)
Highland Park -- Wilson 41 run (Johnson run)
Wyandotte -- Gragg 14 run (kick failed)
Wyandotte -- Anderson 35 pass from Carter (kick failed)
Highland Park -- Drew-Gregory 44 pass from Richardson (run failed)
Highland Park -- Drew-Gregory 95 interception return (pass failed)
Wyandotte -- Gragg 9 run (Gragg run)
Highland Park -- Richardson 39 run (run failed)
Wyandotte -- Gragg 8 run (Gragg run)
Highland Park -- Richardson 68 run (Johnson run)
Highland Park -- Johnson 8 run (run failed)
Highland Park -- Richardson 22 run (run failed)
Highland Park -- Richardson 6 run (run failed)
Wyandotte -- Gragg 10 run (run failed)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing -- Wyandotte: Gragg 23-185, Carter 9-103, Burton 1-4, Anderson 3-(minus)-2, Black 1-(minus)-2, Holmes 1-(minus)-2. Highland Park: Richardson 13-224, Wilson 9-92, Kyles 4-21, Johnson 6-18.
Passing -- Wyandotte: Carter 3-8-2, 122 yards. Highland Park: Johnson 4-6-0, 80; Richardson 1-1-0, 44.
Receiving -- Wyandotte: Anderson 3-122. Highland Park: Richardson 1-51, Drew-Gregory 2-49, James 1-12, Savage 1-12.
Punting -- Wyandotte: Carter 1-16.0.
