Randolph’s Wildcat tears up Mars
The kid with “ran” in his first and last names ran all over Mars Friday night – and who in the world could’ve seenthis coming?
Aaran Randolph, a junior atHighlands, had run the ball out of the “Wildcat” formation on two plays in the first fivegames.
He had three carries overall. Then late in the first quarter of a big game against Mars, Highlands coach Matt Bonislawski inserted Randolph at “Wildcat” quarterback.
Randolph took direct snaps from center and went wildin the second quarter.
Randolphtruly had a quarter for the ages and helped Highlands defeat visiting Mars, 54-22, in a big WPIAL Class 4A Greater Allegheny Conferencegame.
Of his second quarter antics, Randolph said, “My headwas just spinning.”
You should’ve seen Mars’ heads.
“We made him look like Deion Sanders,” said Mars coachEric Kasperowicz.
Randolph touched the ball seven times in the second quarter, had four touchdown runs and threw a touchdown pass. And get this: He scored touchdowns on four consecutiveplays in the quarter.
Radolph’s performance turned a 7-7 game into a rout as Highlands led by 40-7 at halftime.
The win kept Highlands’ record perfect at 6-0 and 3-0 in the conference. Mars droppedto 4-2 and 1-1.
For the game, Randolph carried the ball 10 times for 178 yards and completed 1 of 2 passes for 56 yards and a score. Oh yeah, he also scored Highlands’ first touchdown when he was playing receiver and caught a 19-yard scoring pass from Chandler Thimons.
“I did not realize he scored on four consecutive plays,” said Matt Bonislawski, Highlands’ first-year coach. “The kid’s just a phenomenal, phenomenal athlete.”
The plan entering the game was to put Randolph at “Wildcat” quarterback on the second possession. But Highlands got a turnover and waited until later in the quarter to make the move.
“He can run. He can throw a little bit,” Bonislawski said. “It’s just a matter of him getting comfortable with it.”
He looked like he was on easy street against Mars.
“Coach told me he was going to run the ball,” Randolph said. “I didn’t know he was going to do it that much and I didn’t know it was going to work like that.”
Mars tied the score, 7-7, on Eric Kasperowicz’s 18-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Maple in the first quarter.
Thenon the second play of the second quarter, the Randolph Show started. You won’t see a more dazzling performance in a quarter.
• He ran 13 yards for a touchdown to make 13-7.
• After an interception, Randolph ran 24 yards for a touchdown on the first play.
• After a 5-yard Mars punt, Randolph ran 19 yards for a touchdown on the first play.
• On the first play after another Mars punt, Randolph broke about six tackles on his way to a 65-yard touchdownrun and Highlands led, 34-7.
• On the first play after the next Mars punt, Randolph had a “bad” play. He didn’t score a touchdown. He was held to a 3-yard gain on a run. But Mars could only hold down Randolph for a play. On second down, he threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to Chandler Thimons and Highlands took a 40-7 lead into halftime.
“I think we had seven missed tackles on one run, six on another, eight on another. It was bad,” Kasperowicz said. “It was scorepunt, score-punt, score-punt. I thought we had guys in position, but we just missed tackles. Regardless, they were the tougher team and took it to us. We have to go back to the drawing board.”
Highlands also got 141 yards rushing on 19 carries from Luke Bombalski.
Highlands’ defense also was impressive, holding Mars to 41 yards rushing. But Mars lost leading rusher Evan Wright to an injury in the first quarter.
“We don’t have any team goals. Our goal is just to get better every week,” Bonislawski said. “But what a great night for us. It was a packed house, senior night. This is something these kids will remember the rest of their lives.”
Especially Aaran Randolph.