Unbeaten Heights holds off Kapaun 24-21
Heights football coach Terry Harrison believes in the run game first. The Falcons’ offense ran 47 plays on Thursday night at Heights Stadium, throwing the ball just once and surviving a Kapaun comeback 24-21.
“We trust K’Vonte’ (Baker) to do anything,” Harrison said. “We trust him to do anything any quarterback in America can do.”
Heights sophomore quarterback Baker rushed for 109 yards on 13 carries, while also completing his only pass attempt for a 23-yd touchdown pass to Tevin Hines at the Falcons improves to 6-0.
“That means the world to me, that coach trusts me,” Baker said. “I give all the credit to my line though, they make everything happen.”
The Falcons rushing attack saw four players carry the ball, totaling for 295 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
Heights grabbed the early lead on a 9-yard touchdown run from Baker, after the Falcons needed just 31 yards for paydirt after a Kapaun punt into the wind gave the Falcons great field position. Kapaun scored two drives later on a 53-yard run by Tate Heiland to tie the score at 7.
Baker was able to break free for a 59-yard touchdown run late in the first half to give the Falcons a 14-7 lead. Alfonso Urbina added a 26-yard field goal into the brisk north wind, giving the Falcons the 17-7 lead at halftime.
Kapaun made the game interesting in the fourth quarter, the Crusaders defense stopped the Heights attack after the Falcons had the ball 1st and goal on the Crusader 1-yard line. The Crusaders had a perfect opportunity to get within one score, trailing 24-14 at the time. Kapaun’s offense was unable to show anything from that possession, as the Heights defense forced a punt thanks to back-to-back sacks.
“That hurt us right there,” Kapaun coach Dan Adelhardt said. “We shot ourselves in the foot when we had a perfect chance a couple of times down the wire. I give a lot of credit to our guys though, they kept fighting and didn’t give up.”
On the ensuing drive, the Heights offense gave the ball right back to the Crusaders after a fumbled pitch. Kapaun had the ball on the Heights 31-yard line, after a Heights penalty, the ball was marked at the 13-yard line. Two plays later Heiland added his second rushing touchdown of the game from nine yards out and cut the Heights lead to three.
The ensuing onside kick attempt failed to travel 10 yards, and the Heights offense was able to run the clock out, ending a two-game losing streak to the Crusaders.
“I was proud of our guys,” Harrison said. “We made that game way to close at the end and made some mistakes. We found a way to win despite those late-game mistakes. We’ll work on that and have some things to improve. I’m proud of the way our guys responded to that little bit of adversity.”
Kapaun 7 0 0 14 -- 21
Heights 7 10 7 0 -- 24
H -- Baker 9 run (Urbina kick)
KMC -- Heiland 53 run (Schrock kick)
H -- Baker 59 run (Urbina kick)
H -- Urbina 26 field goal
H -- Hines 23 pass from Baker (Urbina kick)
KMC -- Paul 2 run (Schrock kick)
KMC -- Heiland 9 run (Schrock kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing – Kapaun, Heiland 15-112, Channel 14-55, Paul 1-2, Degenhardt 9-(-2). Heights, Baker 13-109, Williams 7-83, 15-53, 13-50.
Passing – Kapaun, Degenhardt 0-4-0-0. Heights, Baker 1-1-23-0.
Receiving – Heights, Hines 1-23.
West 51, North 12 -- Nijah Metcalf scored two first-quarter touchdowns to start West on its way to its first win of the season.
Kesean Deshazer ran for 162 yards on 20 carries including a 60-yard touchdown run. Five West players had rushing touchdowns, Xavier Sellers returned a kickoff for a TD and Quintrell Royal returned and interception for a score.
Darius Russell led North with 68 rushing yards and a touchdown.
This story was originally published October 6, 2016 at 11:07 PM with the headline "Unbeaten Heights holds off Kapaun 24-21."