Heights takes district title against Derby
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DERBY — In Heights' season opener at Bishop Carroll, the Falcons lost four first-half fumbles and gave up 28 points.
There have been other moments like that this season — losing a late lead to Great Bend, losing by one point to South.
But Friday night, the Falcons distanced themselves from those memories by defeating Derby 27-0 to win the Class 6A-District 6 title and finish the regular season 5-4.
"The way we started off, the adversity this team has gone through with injuries and illnesses and losing tough ballgames ... I'm just so proud of the growth they've made throughout the year," Heights coach Rick Wheeler said.
Both teams earned playoff berths — Heights (5-4, 3-0 district) will play host to South on Friday, while Derby (6-3, 2-1) will play at Northwest.
The defense was the key for Heights. After graduating the bulk of its defense, the inexperienced replacements gave up 104 points in its first four games. Its first shutout was Friday.
The Falcons held Derby to zero rushing yards and 157 passing. They forced five fumbles, recovered two and made two interceptions.
Brant Baker intercepted Jordan Dunham — who replaced starter Tyler Harrison for one play when Harrison limped off the field — and ran it back 43 yards to give the Falcons a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter.
With Derby inside Heights' 1 late in the third quarter, Heights' Zerrance Brickhouse recovered a Jameson Moore fumble.
At the half, Heights had sacked Harrison four times, twice by junior Dominique Henderson on the same possession.
"We were getting blocked, but I was getting in with the mentality that I ain't getting blocked," Henderson said.
In the fourth quarter, the Falcons forced Derby to turn the ball over on downs. Then Trey Schrimscher intercepted Harrison, which led to Heights' final touchdown.
"It's night and day, 180 degrees different from what it was like at the start of the year," Wheeler said of the Heights defense. "It's something to be proud of.
"We've always prided ourselves on great defense. We have a young defense, but they showed they have great ability when they play together."
Heights' offense held its own, with sophomore Matt Reed at the helm for the second straight week in place of injured quarterback John Moreland.
Reed read the Derby defense well, knowing when to run and when to hand off to Dreamius Smith or Delmonte Ross.
All three scored touchdowns, and Reed finished with 112 yards on 28 carries. Smith had 128 yards on 11 carries and Ross carried 14 times for 58 yards.
"We were just trying to get the reads, make sure that when it came down, we got the ball to the outside and try to get our running game going," Reed said.
He had five carries of 10 or more yards, while Smith had three carries for 25 or more.
Heights was also helped by some bounces — the Falcons fumbled five times and recovered all five.
Derby wasn't so fortunate. The Panthers' turned the ball over on four straight second-half possessions — on two fumbles, downs and an interception. All came after the Panthers had made some progress.
Harrison finished 12 of 21 passing for 157 yards. Devin Hedgepeth had two catches for 21 yards but left the game when he suffered a possible concussion.
"We talk about championships all the time," Derby coach Brandon Clark said. "This was our first chance at a championship — championship teams don't turn the ball over, championship teams don't make mistakes like we did.
"We got beat. Tonight they were the better team. They won the championship."
Heights (5-4, 3-0) 14 0 7 6 — 27 Derby (6-3, 2-1) 0 0 0 0 — 0
H—Smith 25 run (Farley kick)
H—Baker 43 interception return (Farley kick)
H—Ross 3 run (Farley kick)
H—Reed 1 run (miss kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing—Heights, Smith 11-128, Reed 28-112, Ross 14-58, Deshazer 3-7, Randolph 1-0. Derby, Moore 7-29, Oaks 5-13, Whittit 1-6, Harrison 8-(-46), Reese 2-(-2).
Passing—Heights, Reed 2-4-19-0, Smith 0-1-0-0. Derby, Harrison 12-21-157-1, Dunham 0-1-0-1.
Receiving—Heights, Wessel 1-14, Clark 1-5. Derby, Reese 6-81, Gillogly 2-41, Hedgepeth 2-21, Sparks 1-13, Oaks 1-1.