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By Ron Marvel

Star Correspondent

For the second week in a row, the Highlanders fell in heartbreaking fashion, this time to the North Greene Huskies, 24-22. It was a game that saw the Highlanders waste a couple of scoring opportunities that could have put them in the driver’s seat in a back-and-forth contest.

North Greene scored first as Thomas Darnell hit Jake Duffy on a corner route to put the Huskies up 8-0 after Darnell added the 2-point conversion. Cloudland answered with an 11-play drive that ended on a 3-yard touchdown run off tackle. Landon Barnette picked up the 2-point conversion to tie the game at 8 apiece. Cloudland had an opportunity to take the lead and put pressure on the Huskies going into the locker room but couldn’t finish a late drive.

Cloudland responded coming out of the locker room, as Grayson Cole finished off a 65-yard drive with an 18-yard touchdown run to put Cloudland up 14-8. North Greene retook the lead as the third quarter came to an end, 16-14, after a short touchdown run. Highlanders head coach Zac Benfield spoke postgame about how missed tackles played a huge part in the game. “To their credit, they made us tackle in open space, and we have to do better in open space. Those missed tackles allowed them to extend drives,” Benfield said.

Once again, Grayson Cole gave the Highlanders the lead on a short touchdown run in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, making it 22-16 after Barnette converted on a two-point play. However, with four minutes left, North Greene retook the lead, 24-22, as Yeshua Vaught scored on a 4-yard touchdown run. The Highlanders got the ball back and reached midfield as Cole picked up 26 yards on a sweep, but the drive stalled, hampered by the absence of lead blocker Camden Peppers and starting quarterback Bryce Birchfield, both of whom were dealing with injuries.

Postgame, Coach Benfield delivered a clear message to his team: “No matter how we are struggling, we love you guys, but when you don’t prepare properly, things like what happened tonight will happen. Learn from this and grow from it. Let it boost you moving forward—perfect practice makes for perfect play,” Benfield said.

Grayson Cole finished the night with 224 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Kingston Cole, Noah Young, and Gavyn Shell played well defensively for the Highlanders in the loss. Next, the Highlanders face the Unaka Rangers on Friday night. A win would sew up a first-round playoff berth and a game against Oliver Springs, the Region 2-1A runner-up.