Enthusiasm for receiver position provides quarterbacks with plentiful options
A Highland Park quarterback doesn’t have to look far to find a wide receiver.
They’re everywhere.
When Cannon Bozman had to miss a game at Tyler, Charlie Olmstead stepped up with eight catches for 158 yards, and three others caught touchdown passes. A week later, against Red Oak, halfback Matthew White had 144 yards receiving and three TD grabs, while Cash Tanner, Case Messer, and Cullum had TD grabs.
Unfortunately, Meeser also became sidelined by an injury after his scoring catch, leaving another opening for someone to step up.
Naturally, plenty of Scots did.
“We’re pretty deep, especially with the slots,” quarterback Buck Randall said. “We have a lot of depth at the inside receiver position.”
That depth could be seen in the continued production, as HP averaged better than 49 points a game going into the Joshua contest on Oct. 17.
Wide receivers flourish in the Scots’ offense because they’ve learned it and have wanted to play in it for a long time.
“If you go to the seventh-grade practice, you’ll see about 20 to 30 boys in a line at each receiver position,” coach Randy Allen said. “There are lots of young boys who want to play receiver. So, through a process of competitiveness over the years, we wind up with some of our best football players at wide receiver.”
The wideouts on the 2025 team exemplify the results. At least eight had recorded a reception through the first half of the season.
Among the highlights: Bozman had 11 catches for 213 yards and four touchdowns in the season opener and tacked on another two TDs in the next game; against Jesuit, four players caught a TD pass; Bozman had a six-catch, 151-yard first half, and sophomore Evan Snelleman had a 45-yard catch against Pulaski Academy; Meeser had a TD catch against Tyler.
“They do a great job of catching the ball with their hands and running good routes,” Allen said. “So we’ve got good coaches, too, who work with them.”
And they are all fast – another trait of Highland Park pass-catchers.
“Every day in practice, we’re running our hardest on all our routes,” said White, who started as a wide receiver before moving to the backfield. “All summer, we do a program for weightlifting and speed. It helps us get a lot faster.”
Faster, stronger, plentiful. It can be said of Highland Park wide receivers every year.
