Highland and Aurora played for an outright Suburban League American Conference title on Friday and this time the Hornets walked out 34-0 winners.
It’s the second league title in three years for Highland (10-0, 7-0), who outplayed an Aurora missing its best player in Lucas Manderbach.
It’s the fifth shutout for the Hornets and third in a row.
Casey Myser paced Highland with 215 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries.
Dylan Borla was 3-for-3 for 98 yards and a touchdown. Evan Foust caught two passes for 76 yards and a score.
Ryan Dwyer was 19-of-31 for 176 yards and threw two interceptions for the Greenmen (9-1, 6-1).
Both teams will play at home in the playoffs next Friday.
Follow along below for in-game analysis, highlights and updates:
Highland makes it a running clock against Aurora
Garrett Phillips walked in from 5 yards out to make it 34-0 Highland. There’s 948 left in the contest. The Hornets will win its second Suburban League American Conference title in three years.
Garrett Phillips snags his second pick against Aurora
Aurora drove to the Highland 5 and looked primed score on first-and-goal, but Garrett Phillips baited a throw and picked off Ryan Dwyer near the end of the third quarter.
It’s 28-0 Highland as the game heads into the fourth quarter.
Highland opens the third quarter with another touchdown
The Hornets marched 59 yards on seven plays and Casey Myser (21 carries, 146 yards) scored from a yard out. It’s Highland 28, Aurora 0 with 8:29 left in the third quarter.
Highland-Aurora halftime statistics
| CATEGORY | HIGHLAND | AURORA |
| FIRST DOWNS | 8 | 7 |
| RUSHING ATTEMPTS/YARDS | 23/164 | 10/1 |
| COMPLETIONS/ATTEMPTS | 2/2 | 10/17 |
| PASSING YARDS | 76 | 103 |
| TOTAL PLAYS/YARDS | 25/240 | 27/104 |
| PENALTIES/YARDS | 4/40 | 5/45 |
| INTERCEPTED BY | 1 | 0 |
| FUMBLES/LOS | 0/0 | 1/0 |
Individual statistics
Team leaders
Highland: Casey Myser 18 carries, 127 yards, TD; Dylan Borla 2-of-2, 76 yards, TD; Evan Foust 2 catches, 76 yards; Aurora: Xavier Board 6 carries, 10 yards; Ryan Dwyer 10-of-17 103 yards; Zach Pannetti 4 catches, 36 yards
Highland takes three-touchdown lead into the break
The Hornets gained 240 yards in the first half to Aurora’s 104 in the first half. Highland takes a 21-0 lead into the break.
Highland increases its lead over Aurora
Highland tried a fake punt and failed, but intercepted Ryan Dwyer on the next play. Immediately following that, the Hornets handed off to Casey Myser, who scored from 47 yards out. It’s 21-0 Highland with 5:55 left before the break.
Highland takes the lead heading into the second quarter
Aurora faces second-and-3 from its own 40. The Greenmen haven’t had a problem moving it, but Highland leads 14-0 as we head to the second quarter.
Aurora pushes, Highland answers and then scores another touchdown
Aurora got as close as the Highland 38 on its next drive, but a 45-yard pass play to Evan Foust by Highland gave the Hornets breathing room on its next drive. Foust was at it again on a wide-open 31-yard touchdown. It’s 14-0 Highland with 1:23 left in the first half.
Highland takes advantage of Aurora miscue to score
The miscue on Aurora’s punt hurt as Lucas Gerding took a jet sweep from 5 yards out. It’s Highland 7, Aurora 0 with 7:38 left in the first quarter.
Aurora hurts itself on the opening drive
Two offensive penalties hurt Aurora’s first drive and they have to turn the ball over. To make matters worse punter Ryan Dwyer touched his knee down before the punt. Highland takes over on the Aurora 24 with 9:25 left in the first quarter.
What to know about Highland and Aurora
Dwyer is Aurora’s starting QB . He is 66-of-96 passing for 1,188 yards this season with 14 TDs and three interceptions. He’s captained an offense scoring 48.1 points a game. … Lucas Manderbach is Aurora’s chief weapon, having run for 798 yards and 16 TDs on 72 carries. … Xavier Board, Cole Walton and Tommy Tartabini each have six rushing TDs. Ben Lukasik, Alex Brooker and Quincy John have caught three TDs apiece. … Aurora’s six leading tacklers are Tartabini, Walton, Manderbach, Josh Harrell, Brooker and Ryan Slisz. … Aurora has yet to play a competitive game this season; its closest score was a 45-14 win over Tallmadge in Week 7.
Highland hasn’t played a close game since Week 1, when it scored a comeback 31-24 win over Hudson. … Casey Myser breaks Highland’s single-season TD record every time he scores. Myser has 31 TDs (26 rushing, five receiving). Myser has 140 carries for 1,346 yards and 11 catches for 322 yards. … QB Dylan Borla is 71-of-94 passing for 1,484 yards with a 20-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio, and has 41 carries for 211 yards and three TDs. … Evan Foust has four TD runs and caught three TD passes. Dylan Lazar has three TD runs, Nick Dobkowski has caught five TDs and Lucas Gerding has caught three TDs. … Highland’s top six tacklers are Foust, Ryan Zywiec, Jameson Gordon, Carson Noonan, Kallen Whitling and Caleb McKeen.
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Projected starters for Highland
| OFFENSE | ||
| NUMBER | NAME | POSITION |
| 2 | Luke Berkmeyer | WR |
| 3 | Lucas Gerding | WR |
| 6 | Nick Dobkowski | WR |
| 12 | Evan Foust | TE |
| 18 | Dylan Borla | QB |
| 25 | Casey Myser | RB |
| 50 | Ryan Zywiec | C |
| 54 | Carson Noonan | LT |
| 58 | Ben Coyne | RT |
| 59 | Josh Messina | LG |
| 66 | Brady Bendau | RG |
| DEFENSE | ||
| 4 | Kyle Williams | CB |
| 5 | Colton Foust | CB |
| 7 | Jameson Gordon | OLB |
| 11 | Josh Arvanetes | SS |
| 12 | Evan Foust | ILB |
| 20 | Kallen Whitling | OLB |
| 22 | Garrett Phillips | FS |
| 50 | Ryan Zywiec | DT |
| 54 | Carson Noonan | DE |
| 65 | Cody Bendau | DT |
| 87 | Caleb McKeen | DE |
| SPECIAL TEAMS | ||
| 12 | Evan Foust | P |
| 40 | Jonah Kowza | K |
Projected starters for Aurora
| OFFENSE | ||
| NUMBER | NAME | POSITION |
| 2 | Ben Lukasik | WR |
| 7 | Zach Pannetti | WR |
| 12 | Ryan Dwyer | QB |
| 20 | Xavier Board | RB |
| 31 | Tommy Tartabini | RB |
| 50 | Ewan Dacres | LG |
| 54 | Reid Acomb | C |
| 66 | Tyler Hanus | RG |
| 73 | Matt Copley | LG |
| 75 | Brody Markle | RT |
| 82 | Alex Brooker | TE |
| DEFENSE | ||
| 2 | Ben Lukasik | SS |
| 3 | Cole Walton | ILB |
| 6 | Quincy John | CB |
| 7 | Zach Panneti | FS |
| 17 | Dan Shanoltzer | CB |
| 27 | Josh Harrell | OLB |
| 31 | Tommy Tartabini | ILB |
| 73 | Matt Copley | DT |
| 75 | Brody Markle | DT |
| 82 | Alex Brooker | DE |
| 88 | Peyton Duguay | DE |
| SPECIAL TEAMS | ||
| 12 | Ryan Dwyer | P |
| 28 | Colin Dockman | K |
Highland results this season
Aurora results this season
Contact Brad Bournival at bbournival@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @bbournival
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