Perhaps the biggest question entering the season for Highland Park’s football team came at wide receiver.
A year ago, HP completed 267 passes for 4,615 yards, but just seven of those receptions and 195 of those yards were accrued by players returning in 2026.
With the Scots sitting atop the District 6-5A Division I standings as the regular season hits the homestretch, the biggest preseason question has been answered emphatically.
Now fully healthy, HP’s contingent of seniors Liam Thomas, Luke Cecil, and Colton Heinlen, juniors Evan Snelleman and Thompson Braner, and sophomore Beckett Lawrence have provided record-setting quarterback Buck Randall an array of pass-catching options.
As a result, the HP offense has averaged 44 points per game with a low of 37 while Randall is pacing for yet another 3,000-yard season.
Through seven games, all six of HP’s aforementioned wide receivers have had at least 10 receptions and 100 yards, five have had touchdown catches, and the Scots have had a different leading receiver in five contests.
“I think the versatility and the depth we have now is great,” said Randy Allen, HP head coach. “It makes it challenging for the defense to focus on one particular guy. They have to be concerned with everyone and that’s why you’re seeing one guy have a great game here and then the next week it might be someone else. It depends on how the defense wants to play us, but everyone can catch and run, and Buck trusts them all and will give them a chance.”
Pacing the Scots thus far has been Lawrence, who has notched team-highs in receptions (30), yards (473), and touchdowns (five).
Thomas, meanwhile, has contributed 25 catches for 418 yards and three scores, while Snelleman has 15 receptions, 301 yards, and four touchdowns, and is averaging a team-high 20 yards per catch.
Braner (22-273-1), Cecil (12-140-2), and Heinlen (10-123) have also had their moments, and even running backs James Flowers (9-130) and Caiden Reeves (19-306) are consistently involved in HP’s aerial assault.
Not only have HP’s pass-catchers been productive statistically, but each also brings a different element to the offense.
“Beckett is the play-maker,” Braner said. “He makes it happen and breaks all the tackles. Cecil is a big, physical guy and he showed that last week when he caught the game-sealing catch against Richland. Evan, he’s our fastest receiver, and we’re lucky to have him back. He was huge for us against Richland, too. And I’d just describe Liam as an all-around stud. He runs tremendous routes and does a great job blocking.”
The chemistry between Randall and the receivers, meanwhile, continues to improve with more time on the field, in particular for Snelleman and Cecil.
“We’ve all grown up with Buck with him being a senior as well,” Cecil said. “He became a starter quicker than some of us, obviously, but we’ve always had that connection. This year, it’s just been growing more into that and taking it to a different level.”
“Last year in practice, we were always sitting behind guys like Cannon (Bozman) and Harrison (Cullum) and those guys,” Thomas added. “That was big and we kind of knew what it looks like and what the coaches were looking for. And then of course we got a whole offseason to work with Buck.”
After taking the week of Oct. 19 off for a bye, HP and its receivers will have at least three more games catching passes from Randall, with 6-5A games Oct. 30 at home against Birdville and Nov. 5 at Carrollton Newman Smith before kicking off the playoffs.
Just how deep that postseason run will last is all that’s left to be determined for the Scots after reaching the regional final a year ago.
“Making a deep run in the playoffs, you have to go through a lot of adversity, and I think that is something this team has really learned to do,” Snelleman said. “You could see it in the game against Richland. That’s a team that a lot of people thought would beat us, and there were some tough moments, but we kept fighting through and pulled it out.”
“This is a player-led team,” Lawrence added. “Everyone is connected and is all-in on the same goal. That’s going to drive us.”
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