The Highland Rams made sure their defense brought a different attitude to their stadium Friday night.
One week after surrendering 49 points, the Rams dominated the line of scrimmage and buried Hunter 27-3 in a non-region game.
Highland held the Wolverines to just 103 yards, and plenty of those came on the last drive. The only time Hunter threatened was when it recovered a fumble at the Highland 20 in the third quarter, and it still took them eight plays to go 15 yards — and it got five of those from a penalty.
"Our attitude on the field changed," said Highland coach Brody Benson. "Last week, we were timid. We were afraid to make mistakes. This time, we flew around to the ball."
Across the field, Hunter coach Dustin Pearce noticed.
"We got out-physicaled across the board," said Pearce, shaking his head. As a former defensive end, Pearce knows something about how to beat — and be beaten — by another lineman.
Highland controlled the line of scrimmage, and the clock. The Rams got 287 yards rushing, led by 93 yards by running back Toi Taufa and 75 by quarterback Mason Keller.
The Rams offense got it going in the second quarter, taking a 14-0 lead on scoring runs by Keller and Christopher Lloyd.
Things got interesting immediately after halftime.
On Highland's first play, Keller fumbled and Hunter's Niko Davidson pounced on the ball at the Rams' 20. Hunter's offense, however, still couldn't move the ball. It took the Wolverines eight plays to go 15 yards — and five of those came via penalty.
Jake Jex booted a 23-yard field goal to put Hunter on the board.
That just served as a wakeup call for Highland. It took the Rams just five plays to score. That's when Lloyd broke loose on a 58-yard run, using a nifty cutback to reach the end zone.