The Highland Park Hornets will look to defend their home field on Friday against the Stratford Elks at 7:00 p.m. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Highland Park has struggled recently with three losses in a row, while Stratford will arrive with eight straight wins.
Highland Park pushed their score all the way to 32 on Friday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They suffered a tough 56-32 defeat at the hands of Farwell. Highland Park was down 49-18 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.
Despite their defeat, Highland Park saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Elyes Torres, who picked up 213 receiving yards and three touchdowns, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground, was perhaps the best of all. Torres' longest reception was for an incredible 72 yards. The team also got some help courtesy of Brady Thomspon, who threw for 429 yards and four touchdowns while completing 72.7% of his passes.
Meanwhile, Stratford stacked a sixth blowout onto their ever-increasing hoard on Friday. They blew past Sanford-Fritch 69-0 at home. Given Stratford's advantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 198th, while Sanford-Fritch is ranked 1143rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Stratford found their leader in underclassman Chase Lantelme, who threw for 114 yards and three touchdowns while completing 83.3% of his passes, and also picked up 62 receiving yards. Trey Smith was another key contributor, gaining 78 total yards and two touchdowns.
Highland Park's loss was their third straight on the road, which dropped their overall record down to 4-4. The slump could be explained by some tough opposition over that stretch, namely Farwell, West Texas, and Panhandle. As for Stratford, their win bumped their record up to 8-0.
Highland Park was taken down by Stratford 61-6 when the teams last played back in October of 2022. Will Highland Park have more luck at home instead of on the road?
