Highlands working to adapt offense, keep playoff streak going

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, August 13, 2025 | 6:01 AM

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Highlands was one quarter away from a trip to last year’s WPIAL Class 3A semifinals.

The Golden Rams led No. 1 Imani Christian by nine at the end of the third quarter, but the Saints erupted in the fourth and raced past Highlands for a 31-17 win.

While that heartbreaking playoff contest was a disappointing end to the season, coach Matt Bonislawski said the players deserved to take pride in the overall body of work.

Now, Highlands is focused on doing what is needed to put itself in position for a fifth straight trip to the WPIAL playoffs.

“Our focus is always keeping the right mindset and being good teammates, working together and being as one through any of the ups and downs,” Bonislawski said. “When we do that, we’re usually pretty good. We are always working to be able to stick together and handle any adversity that comes our way.”

Bonislawski said he sees a mentally focused group that has put in the work.

“I think this is the closest group I’ve had in terms of camaraderie, what their collective goals are for the season and just how to get it done,” he said. “For a lot of them, this is their fourth year with me, and they know what to expect from us as coaches.”

Highlands finished last season 6-5 overall and 3-3 in fourth place behind Imani, Freeport and Deer Lakes in the Allegheny 7 standings.

“I don’t know if we are as fast as we were last year, but we’re pretty close,” Bonislawski said. “I know we can be tougher, and I know we’re going to play the right way every game.”

Senior Jamarkus Prager will take over the full-time quarterback duties for the graduated Menage Lucas, who joined an exclusive WPIAL club of signal-callers who ran for more than 1,000 yards and passed for more than 1,000 yards in a single season. Lucas accounted for 45 total offensive touchdowns last year.

“Jamarkus is more of a passing quarterback, so we’ve been doing some different things with him,” Bonislawski said. “He gets the ball out of his hands pretty fast, and he understands schemes and concepts of what we’re trying to do. We have some pretty good sets of multiple receivers and running backs who will complement him very well.”

Senior Jahmar Wright is back to lead the receivers. He earned first-team all-conference honors a year ago.

“Jahmar’s come a long way,” Bonislawski said. “He is long and super athletic. He’s 6-2, and he can run. He was third this year in the triple-A high jump and was a state qualifier. He’s a super athlete for us, and he’s continuing to develop as a leader. He understands what we need to do and what his role is in that.”

Senior right guard Cole Shaffer, an all-conference selection last year, is expected to again be an anchor along the line along with seniors Cayden Dadowski at left guard and Morgan Smith at right tackle.

Last year was Smith’s first year of football.

“Morgan loves the weight room,” Bonislawski said. “He’s 6-4 and about 295. I give him a lot of credit with it being his first year of football and starting at right tackle on a pretty good team. I am looking forward to seeing what he can do in Year 2.”

The Golden Rams were a youthful group defensively last year.

“We probably still will only have one, possibly two seniors in the front eight,” Bonislawski said. “There are some juniors and sophomores who are in there ready to make an impact. Similar to last year, we have a lot of pieces we can move around just to see what fits, how to get the best 11 on the field and to get the best matchups against who we are playing. There’s a lot of flexibility.”

Junior Beckham Ochoa earned second-team all-conference honors at inside linebacker.

Three sophomores — defensive end Logan Thies (86 tackles, nine sacks), Luke Lattus (61 tackles, three sacks) and linebacker Tevin Owen-Cratsenberg (59 tackles, three sacks) — were among the stalwarts defensively in their varsity debuts last season.

Thies moved from linebacker to defensive end last year to fill a need.

“He is one of our best overall players in terms of sense of the game and leadership,” Bonislawski said. “He’s also our backup quarterback, and we’re probably going to find some ways where we can get him involved on offense.”

Cratsenberg, Bonislawski said, also will be one of the leaders at running back.

“Last year, we had several backs, and we didn’t get him as many carries, but he really came along defensively, and we kind of let him get his feet wet there,” Bonislawski said. “I expect him to have a much bigger role on offensive this year.”

Bonislawksi said he likes the depth at both inside and outside linebacker.

Shaffer will have a prominent presence again in the trenches at defensive tackle.

Wright played safety the past two years where he collected a team-best four interceptions. Bonislawski expected to slide him over to corner to get him more involved.

Bonislawski said the conference again will be a challenge.

“The conference will be solid with competitive matchups each week,” he said. “Imani can play with anybody. They have some big guys coming back and some new pieces added to their mix. Freeport has almost everyone back. Deer Lakes runs a good program with a lot of guys who have bought in to what (Tim Burk) has them doing.

“Burrell will come in with a different look offensively under (former Highlands coach) Dom (Girardi), and they have good athletes who will get pointed in the right direction.”

Highlands opens at Armstrong in Week Zero and then will travel to Elizabeth Forward in Week 1.

The Golden Rams had a wild opening to last season with a 38-37 loss to the River Hawks before outlasting EF, 53-52, at home in a three-overtime thriller.

“These kids get it,” Bonislawski said. “We’ve been pounding it in their heads for several years now. I am looking forward to seeing what this group can do this season.”

Highlands

Coach: Matt Bonislawski

2024 record: 6-5, 3-3 in Class 3A Allegheny 7 Conference

All-time record: 296-266-7

SCHEDULE

Date, Opponent, Time

8.22 at Armstrong, 7

8.29 at Elizabeth Forward, 7

9.5 New Castle, 7

9.12 at East Allegheny*, 7

9.19 Imani Christian*, 7

9.26 Deer Lakes*, 7

10.3 at Freeport*, 7

10.10 at Burrell*, 7

10.17 McGuffey, 7

10.24 Valley*, 7

*Conference game

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Passing: Menage Lucas*

74-141, 1,587 yards, 23 TDs

Rushing: Lucas*

166-1,459 yards, 22 TDs

Receiving: Montrell Johnson*

30-526 yards, 8 TDs

*Graduated

FAST FACTS

• Matt Bonislawski enters his fourth season as head coach of the Golden Rams. He is 21-12 over his first three seasons with WPIAL playoff appearances each year.

• Junior placekicker Jackson Babinsack delivered a strong 2024 season with 50 extra points and three field goals to go along with his other kicking duties. For his efforts, he was selected to the all-conference first team.

•The Golden Rams defense made its mark last year with 32 sacks, nine fumble recoveries and five interceptions

•Graduates Menage Lucas and Darius Cherry combined for more than 2,400 rush yards and 32 touchdowns last year.

ROSTER

Name, Cl.

Aidenn Acre, fr.

Lindenn Acre, fr.

Dante Allen, jr.

Arius Alvarenga, fr.

Achilles Anger-Youngblood, so.

Jayson Ankney, fr.

Jesse Ankney, jr.

Jackson Babinsack, jr.

Keegan Babinsack, sr.

Javon Bashioum, jr.

Caden Bosak, sr.

Micah Brown, fr.

Aiden Cale, jr.

Ethan Calender, jr.

Landon Carrigan, fr.

Darai Carter, sr.

Javeon Chambers, sr.

Cayden Dadowski, sr.

Brayden Davis, jr.

Jaxson Dinning, fr.

Jacob Erb, so.

Evan Faltot, so.

Keian Foster, fr.

Logan George, sr.

Andre Harris Jr. , sr.

Marqis Johnson, sr.

Logan Lattus, jr.

Luke Lattus, jr.

Ben Linderman, fr.

Jett Lloyd-jackson, so.

Parker Mace, fr.

Thomas Naviglia, so.

Beckham Ochoa, jr.

Tevin Owen-Cratsenberg, so.

Taiy Partlow, jr.

Delonte Peake, jr.

Christian Pearson, jr.

Jamarkus Prager, sr.

Mauricio Ratcliff, fr.

Michael Rice, sr.

Marcus Rovnak, so.

Cole Shaffer, sr.

Reda Shareef, so.

Morgan Smith, sr.

Aiden Stanziana, fr.

Evan Stewart, jr.

Daquan Stinson, so.

Ethan Stivenson, jr.

Landon Syput, so.

Bryce Tavarez, so.

Logan Thies, so.

Henry Thimons, jr.

Wyatt Wall, jr.

LT Woody, fr.

Jah’mar Wright, sr.

Anthony Yaconis, fr.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

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