Highland Park has plenty of wide receivers to throw to.
One is even a running back.
Matthew White caught six passes for 139 yards and three touchdowns in the Scots’ 52-35 victory against Red Oak on Friday night, highlighting the plethora of pass-catchers for quarterback Buck Randall on the 2025 squad.
“It’s like the third week in a row he’s had a tremendous game like that,” coach Randy Allen said of the senior running back, who was moved to his position from inside receiver. “Buck threw him some pretty balls, and he made some huge plays for us.”
On three consecutive targets in the first half, the swift rusher turned catches into touchdowns to give the Scots (5-1, 2-0 District 6-5A) separation against the Hawks (2-3, 0-1).
White’s 5-yard grab with 22 seconds left in the first quarter made it 14-7. On the first play of the next Scots possession, he took a catch on a wheel route 65 yards to paydirt for a 21-7 lead. The next time HP had the ball, he finished it with a TD catch on third-and-17 from the 18 for a 28-14 advantage.
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“It’s in the game plan a little bit,” White said of the targets that produced his big game. “It keeps the defense honest. They have to respect it coming out of the backfield.”
White’s hands also give the Scots the ability to wait for two sidelined receivers, Cannon Bozman, who took a hard hit against Pulaski Academy two weeks ago, and Case Messer, who was injured making a touchdown catch in Friday night’s game. The senior had caught four straight passes on the drive, including a 12-yard grab in the corner of the end zone on which he apparently was hurt.
The Scots are glad for their numbers in the receiver room.
“We’re pretty deep, especially with the slots,” said Randall, who was a sharp 21-for-25 with six touchdown passes, including one each to Harrison Cullum and Cash Tanner. “We have a lot of depth at the inside receiver position.”
Now the Scots get a week off. They can rest, recover and get ready for the second half push in the 6-5A schedule.
They resume play on Oct. 17 at Joshua.
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