No. 12 Highland (6-6, 2-5) snuck by with a win in the opening round of the OHSAA Division V, Region 18 football tournament, but No. 4 Oak Harbor (12-0, 7-0) was too much to handle in a 41-7 blowout in the regional quarterfinals where Dalton Witter ran it in for three scores.
"The Fighting Scots 2023 Team has a lot to be proud of, as this squad became just the 5th team in school history to reach Week 12," said Assistant Coach Travis Church. "Thank you to our seniors for a great four years! Lastly, thank you to Scot Nation for all the support; particularly the Ones that were supportive through not only the good times but the adverse times as well."
Oak Harbor’s Tyler Thompson set the tone early with a kickoff return for touchdown to make it a 7-0 game with 11:46 on the clock. With 3:46 left in the quarter, QB Michael Lalonde connected with Wyatt Augsburger on a slant for a 13-yard score, but the extra point was no good making it a 13-0 game after one. With 6:35 left in the half, Witter took it in from four yards out to go up 20-0. Witter scored again on a one-yard touchdown run and Kulton Krupp hit the extra point, giving the Rockets a 27-0 halftime lead.
Witter scored for the third time on a 28-yard touchdown run, and Krupp nailed the point after to put Oak Harbor up 34-0 with 7:42 on the clock in the third quarter. Carson Ridener scored on a 12-yard touchdown run with about a minute left in the third quarter, and Krupp’s extra point put the Rockets up 41-0.
Highland got on the board with six minutes left in the game on a 29-yard touchdown run by Dane Nauman. Malin Fichtner put it through the uprights, but that would be all for Highland in a 41-7 loss.
Oak Harbor had full control the entire game, allowing only 78 yards of total offense while putting up 305 yards. The Rockets had an 18-3 first down advantage and were 5-for-5 on fourth down conversions.
Nauman had 13 carries for 49 yards in the game for Highland. Kolton Stover was 4-for-12 for 30 yards. Sam Hernandez led the defense with 12 tackles and Zach Church had seven tackles with two for a loss. Stover tallied nine tackles.
