It was a day and game full of emotion as the Highland football team rode an emotional roller coaster to a 47-38 overtime win over Coffeyville on Saturday picking up their fourth win over the Red Ravens in the last six meetings.

After some emotion during pregame with a special coin toss with Head Coach Aaron Arnold, his father, James Arnold and Coach Aaron Flores of Coffeyville as part of pregame ceremonies for the game which Highland designated as Organ Donor awareness game, along with some parent recognition before kickoff it was time for the game and it didn't lack emotion either.

The first points of the game didn't come until late in the first quarter as the Scotties were the first to visit the endzone with Avery McCall hitting Kevin Brown for a seven-yard touchdown giving Highland the initial lead of the game at 7-0 with 2:06 left in the first quarter. Coffeyville looked to tie the game when McArthur Burnett picked off a Scottie pass and returned it 61-yards for a touchdown but the Red Ravens missed the extra point and the Scotties still held the lead but only by one-point.

Scotties were balanced on offense on the day with 242 yards on the ground and 259 yards through the air and that was on display in the first half as Highland moved the ball and got a six-yard touchdown run by Michael Thomas in the second quarter along with a 42-yard field goal by Ryan Schemtob just before halftime giving the Scotties a 17-6 lead at intermission, marking the first time this season that Highland owned the lead at halftime.

Nearly five minutes of game time into the second half, Brown nearly doubled his rushing output in one way busting off a 71-yard touchdown run and with the extra point the Scotties owned a 24-6 lead and looked to be in control of the contest. Things changed around the eight minute mark of the third quarter as Coffeyville's Reece Shaw hit Josh Moore for a 45-yard touchdown pass and the Red Ravens blocked a pair of punts and recovered both in the endzone and by the end of the third quarter Coffeyville led 31-24.

Highland cut the deficit to five with a 39-yard Schemtob field goal, but a fumble on a punt return set up Coffeyville with an opportunity and they scored again, this time a 20-yard run by Marco Lee and the Scotties trailed by 11-points 38-27 with 6:24 remaining in the game. It was a quick answer by Highland as the Scotties scored in 1:52 of game time as McCall hit Bernard Porter for a 31-yard touchdown strike and with an Avery McCall two-point conversion run, the Scotties trailed only by three points.

Out of timeouts and needing the ball back, the Highland defense buckled down and forced a three and out and the Scotties got the ball back with ample time. Moving down the field with the Scotties had a critical fourth down and 17 standing in front of them and Antoine Thompson made a big catch and broke a tackle to gain 30-yards keeping the drive alive. Highland ultimately set up for the game tying field goal and Schemtob split the uprights again this time from 38-yards to tie the game at 38-38 and send the contest to overtime.

In overtime Highland got the ball first and ended up being held out of the endzone but Schemtob got the Scotties points again nailing a 30-yard field goal to give Highland the lead. The defense just needed a stop to finish the game and it came in a big way as Damarion Williams picked off the Red Ravens for the Scotties sixth interception of the game, Williams fourth, and he returned it for a touchdown and the exclamation point on the game and a 47-38 Highland win.

Offensively Highland was balanced gaining 501 yards of total offense the most this season in a contest outgaining Coffeyville 501 to 222, while getting 26 first downs to the Red Ravens 10. Brown led the way out of the backfield with 153 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown and also a touchdown reception. McCall was 27-54 for 259 yards with a pair of touchdown passes, connecting with Porter six times for 77 yards and a touchdown. The defense held Coffeyville down in the game and allowed only 92 yards passing in the win, while getting six interceptions, a school record for a single game. Williams had four interceptions himself which is school record for a single game, while Amarrian Brown and Darius Johnson each had an interception also. Jahkeem Green led the team in tackles with 10 from his defensive line position.

"Your always proud of your team when they fight and come back from behind; and I think people that have been around football and sports understand to be ahead big and then to fall behind big is even harder to regain that momentum and so I think this is probably our grittiest, toughest performance to date. I thought we showed more fight today than we have all season. There was a point there after that third quarter that all-four wheels were off and we were dragging bottom. It would have been easy for these guys to have packed it up, to have lost their faith and given up and they didn't," said Coach Arnold about his team's performance in the win over Coffeyville.

The win moves Highland to 3-1 on the season and 2-1 in KJCCC play as the team played their 10^th game of last 14 to be decided by single digits. Win also gives the Scotties their fourth win in last six meetings with Coffeyville, while all three Highland wins have ultimately been secured late in the game. Scotties will be on the road for the next three games including a trip to Fort Dodge, Iowa Saturday, September 29^th for the next game with a noon kickoff.