The Rams and Leopards came to battle again on Sep. 12 for another rivalry football game.
But the rivalry has been one-sided for more than a decade. The last time Highland beat East in a football game was in 2014, and the 2025-26 team was determined to end the ugly streak.
And although the game itself was as ugly as the losing streak, the outcome for the Rams could not have been more beautiful with Highland winning 17-8. Ending the streak, and moving the Rams to 2-0 in region.
“This game is a rivalry which makes it even better that we won,” Cortland Angstman, Highland junior and football team captain, said. “It’s been 11 years since we beat East, so we broke that today.”
The game started with a kickoff to East, and the Rams defense quickly shut them down – something that happened throughout the night. Other than penalties throughout the game, helping East progress up the field, Highland’s defense was strong all night, only giving up a touchdown with less than a minute remaining.
Angstman made one of the biggest plays in the game late in the first quarter. After a time-consuming drive by East, the Leopards attempted a field goal but it was blocked by Angstman.
The Rams built momentum as they took the ball. Jackson Folau, a Highland senior, had a big play in this drive, catching a deep pass thrown by Brody Dalton that set Highland up first and goal.
On the next play, Zamari Vaughn got the Rams the first touchdown when he broke open on a slant, catching the pass and giving Highland a lead of 7-0.
As the second quarter rolled around, the ball was in East’s possession. The Leopard’s first fumble of the game was caused by junior Will Bauman and recovered by Vaughn.
With Highland’s first drive of the second quarter, the Rams were able to force their way down the field to the two-yard line, but were unable to score and missed a field goal. Missed opportunities haunted the Rams all night, otherwise the score would have been much worse for East.
“Our offense is getting there, but we need to be able to score more in the red zone,” Folau said. “We had the ball at the two but now we need to trust in our players and their strengths.”
As Highland defense came back on the field, they remained strong, but multiple penalties continued to hurt their progress.
When the Rams recovered the ball again, they showed the strength of their running game. As Folau ran the ball to get the first down, he continued to hype up his team.
Soon after, their second touchdown was made by Manase Wolfgramm after a long run and slick cutback left the defense grasping at air.
East was struggling to catch the ball for the rest of the quarter, dropping multiple passes that could have put them in scoring position, leaving the halftime score to 14-0 with Highland in the lead.
In the third quarter, East could not seem to hold on to the ball as they fumbled again, recovered by Aiden Demarco, a Highland sophomore.
As Bauman came out as the QB in the second half of this quarter, he was a double threat with his passing and running game, coming off strong after an early-season injury.
Highland made its way down inside the 10-yard line and again missed the field goal, again leaving potential points on the field and off the scoreboard.
“We executed what we practiced, but I wish we could have done more,” Wolfgramm said.
To start the fourth quarter, East fumbled again for the third and final time, recovered by James Conde a Highland senior and football team captain.
After Highland took the ball and began to pick up steam, the offense drove the ball down the field to score a successful field goal by Caleb Koelliker, a Highland senior.
With less than three minutes left in the game, East drove the ball down determined to put some points on the board. The Highland defense was unable to stop them from scoring their first touchdown of the season.
With a successful two-point conversion, the score was 17-8 with less than two minutes in the game.
After an offside kick attempt by East, Highland was still able to recover the ball and finish strong.
This was the first time Highland had beaten East in the past 11 years, and the boys were ecstatic that they shut down their rivalry team.
“I’m just excited for these boys,” Highland coach Kautai Olevao said. “They knew how long their streak was and they were determined to end this streak but start a new streak for Highland.”
