Patrick Towles and
Austin Sheehan are living proof that an extensive 11-month program pays major dividends for the storied football team at
Highlands (Fort Thomas, Ky.).
Patrick Towles, Highlands
Photo Courtesy of Mark Majors, twenty53 Photography
Towles, a 6-foot-6, 235-pound senior quarterback, paced the Bluebirds to a 42-14 victory over Franklin-Simpson (Franklin, Ky.) on Saturday for the Class 4A state championship. The University of Kentucky recruit completed 12 of 18 passes for 183 yards and one touchdown, while also running for 122 yards and another touchdown. He was named MVP for the second year in a row.
The Bluebirds now have won five consecutive state titles (the previous four were Class 5A) to tie the all-time state record. Towles, who is the grandson of Hall of Fame baseball pitcher Jim Bunning, was at the controls the last three years. In those three state title games he rushed for 352 yards and seven touchdowns and passed for 252 yards and one touchdown.
He completed a banner senior year by passing for 3,820 yards and 42 touchdowns with just one interception in 279 attempts. He also ran for 589 yards and 15 touchdowns. He runs 40 yards in 4.6 seconds, making him the second-fastest player on the team.
Ultra-successful coach Dale Mueller told MaxPreps that when Towles was a freshman, he was a back-up quarterback on the freshman team and played some at defensive halfback.
"We even considered moving him to the offensive line because we knew he was going to be tall," Mueller revealed. "He's a guy who really worked hard."
Austin Sheehan, Highlands
Photo Courtesy of Mark Majors, twenty53 Photography
To make a long story short, Towles rose to the No. 2 varsity quarterback position early in his sophomore year and took over the top spot in the fifth game when the starter was injured. He never vacated it and wound up with a sparkling 38-1 record during his career as the No. 1 signal caller.
His accuracy is amazing. Mueller credits it to great concentration.
Towles and Sheehan have been best friends for many years. Unfortunately, Sheehan missed the last three games of the year due to a dislocated shoulder.
However, the 5-10, 165-pound wide receiver had a phenomenal 12 games. He caught just 29 passes, but he turned them into an amazing 1,013 yards. That's an incredible average of 34.93 yards per catch, which is a national record. Earlier in the year
Gehrig Dieter of
Washington (South Bend, Ind.) had surpassed the listed national record with his average of 26.8 yards per catch.
Mueller noted that Sheehan was the Bluebirds' deep receiver, but he turned a number of short passes into long gains with his speed (4.55 seconds for 40 yards).
"I'm really excited (about the record)," Mueller said. "It's a real tribute to how hard he's worked. He wasn't necessarily the guy you thought was going to be a great player. He improved his hands and kept running better routes. I've really been proud of him."
Sheehan also is going to Kentucky as a preferred walk-on. Don't be surprised that through more hard work, Sheehan and Towles will continue their success story on the collegiate level.
