Second-half surge pushes undefeated Highlands past winless Mars

By: William Whalen
Friday, September 17, 2021 | 10:27 PM

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Highlands rolled into conference play Friday night undefeated, but some in the football world felt the Golden Rams hadn’t been challenged and had a soft 3-0 record.

The Golden Rams accepted that challenge and raised a few eyebrows as well. Backed by two second-half touchdown passes and a swarming defense, Highlands defeated Mars, 22-7, in a WPIAL Class 4A Greater Allegheny Conference matchup at the Mars Athletic Complex.

“Make no mistake, we came out tonight and played a very good team,” Highlands coach Dom Girardi said. “(They’re) a team with nice size, good athletes and well coached.

“The second half, I think we came out and did a better job of knowing what to expect. In that second half, we were able to land a few more (plays) than them, and that’s really what it comes down to.”

Highlands (4-0, 1-0) broke the game open in the second half.

With the score tied 7-7, the Golden Rams came out on the first drive and put together a seven-play, 75-yard drive capped off when quarterback Chandler Thimons spotted a wide open Landan Signorella for a 26-yard touchdown to give Highlands 13-7 lead.

“I just looked at it as a new half and (the score was 0-0),” Signorella said. “We got to keep pushing, keep the blocks up and catch everything.”

Thimons and Signorella hooked up again late in the third quarter on a 59-yard touchdown to give the Rams a 20-7 lead. The play call was the same as the duo’s previous touchdown.

“We came out (in the second half) and coach put in a play, we scored off of it the first time,” Signorella said. “We ran a couple of different plays and ran that play again and scored again.”

Signorella finished with 100 yards receiving on four receptions. Thimons went 9 of 15 for 142 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.

“Can’t make mistakes. You can’t make mistakes,” Mars coach Scott Heinauer said. “You got to tackle people, and you can’t give up the big play. And you know what, that’s the difference in the game and that’s been the story of our season so far. You do things like that, you lose games.”

Highlands tacked on a safety in the fourth quarter on a bad punt snap with 6 minutes, 32 seconds remaining in the game.

Both teams were held scoreless in the first quarter. Highlands got on the board first when Thimons threw a quick pass to senior running back Brock White for a 2-yard touchdown.

Mars (0-4, 0-1) got on the board thanks to some good field position. Highlands also had some long snapping problems as a snap flew over punter Luke Bombalski’s head and was downed at the 10-yard line. The Highlands defense put in a valiant effort but on fourth down, quarterback Rafael Bartley found Chris Dvorak in the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown to tie the score at 7-7 with 1:45 remaining in the first half.

Bombalski consistently ran between the tackles, moving the pile. He kept the chains and the clock moving. Bombalski rushed for 132 yards on 25 carries.

“I think it’s a great win for us, and it will really help us out,” Signorella said. “I think it shows us who we are and how we can come back and keep fighting and keep pushing.”

William Whalen is a freelance writer.

Tags: Highlands, Mars