As the Rams were on a high from last week’s win where they beat the Murray Spartans, 41-0, they needed to stay focused and be prepared for their game against the Skyline Eagles this past Friday night. Although they were trailing early in the game, the Rams definitely were focused and came out with a dominating 61-36 victory.

To open up the game, Skyline struck first by scoring a touchdown within the first four minutes. However, Highland responded by scoring their first touchdown of the game with 2:40 left in the quarter. With less than a minute to go, Skyline took the lead with another touchdown and the score was 14-7.

The game started out looking like it was going to be a close one all night, and may even come down to the final minutes on deciding the winner. This wasn’t the case though. In the beginning of the second quarter, senior Trayton Keyes ran for 68 yards and scored an amazing touchdown, tying up the game, 14-14. Soon after that touchdown, junior Siope Tenifa scored one of his own, putting Highland in the lead. After a safety by Highland, the Rams were up, 23-14. With less than 7 minutes to go in the first half, Skyline came roaring back and scored two touchdowns within only minutes of each other. They took the lead, 29-23, but not for long. With two minutes left to go in the quarter, senior quarterback Cole Peterson ran for two touchdowns, putting Highland on top going into halftime with a score of 37-29.

The Rams dominated the second half of the game. In the third quarter, sophomore Colton White ran for 7 yards, increasing Highland’s lead. The Rams made a field goal, and the score at the end of the third quarter was 47-29. In the fourth quarter, Keyes ran for 8 yards, scoring yet another touchdown to make the score 54-29. With 4:33 left in the game, White ran for 30 yards, scoring his second touchdown of the evening. The Eagles weren’t going to end the game being completely shutout in the second half, and with around two minutes left, they scored the last touchdown of the game. That wasn’t enough though as the Rams came out with the victory and a final score of 61-36.

One reason Highland was so successful during the game was because of their offensive line. The offensive line was so dominating that they rushed for a total of 494 yards, whereas Skyline had a total of 14 rushing yards.

“Our offense started off slow,” senior Hunter Lotulelei said. “However, at the end, we had the energy to come back.”

Going into this upcoming week, the Rams will need to watch a lot of film, take notes, and practice/play hard as they prepare to play at Olympus on September 29.