Punishing defense, Jay Martin's 3 TDs keep Highland in Open hunt with win over Williams Field

Gilbert Highland relies on a punishing, disguising defense, a strong ground game, and the emotions of feeling Open neglected to carry it through football games.

All of those things were on display Friday night as the Hawks methodically took care of host Gilbert Williams Field in a 43-21 6A East Valley Region victory that sets up next week's big showdown against red-hot American Leadership Queen Creek (6-1), which had a bye this week.

Win next week ― the biggest obstacle in the way of achieving its first Open Division state playoff berth — and the road to the coveted eight gets easier. The last three years Highland settled for a high seed in the 6A playoffs, feeling left out of the Open, and ended up reaching the final each of those years, winning the last two titles.

Here are a few takeaways to set the stage for next week:

No turnovers

In the two games Highland (5-2) lost, the Hawks were hurt by pick sixes. Quarterback Kalen Fisher threw four in the Lone Peak (Utah) loss and one in the 22-20 Chandler loss. On Friday, he had no turnovers and launched a perfect pass down the middle for Greg Toler Jr., to catch in stride for a 46-yard touchdown that helped the Hawks take a 16-0 lead in the first quarter.

Seven of Fisher's 10 interceptions came in the two losses.

"We always try to make sure we've got that camaraderie," Toler said. "I want to make sure I'm the guy he looks for and continues to look for. I know it's my job to always get open. He saw it was a cover three."

Fisher kept alive a few drives with clutch first-down throws on third and fourth downs.

Picking up the slack

Highland has been without running back Eli Kerby, who is expected back in a couple of weeks. But tailback Jay Miller has more than made up for Kerby's absence with his bullish rush. He ran for three touchdowns, including a 20-yarder that put away Williams Field (5-2) for a 43-21 lead with 2:02 left.

Earlier in the half, he, with help from his blockers, pushed the pile 12 yards to the 1, setting up Elijah Denson's 1-yard scoring run.

"It's a position I'm in that I feel like I need to step up," said Martin, who stepped up big early in the season when his big runs helped Highland beat defending Open state champion Chandler Basha 22-21 by keeping explosive quarterback Demond Williams Jr., off the field. "The central part of our offense is to make sure we don't put the ball on the ground."

Defense sets the tone

Highland's last two 6A championships were built around strong defenses with a good-enough offense to get the job done.

Against Williams Field, sophomore safety Grady Crandall intercepted two Kody Guy passes. The first one came on great pressure from Highland's defensive front. Guy's pass floated in the air and Crandall took it back about 25 yards to the 3. That set up Miller's scoring run that gave Highland a 29-0 lead with 2:35 left in the half.

"We knew they had some fast receivers," Crandall said. "We knew they'd go over the top. Shout out to my corners for pushing them in. We just knew to not give up any shots, and we'd be fine."

Highland was helped by a dropped pass that would have been a touchdown, and another long pass that was dropped.

Winning both sides of the ball

Williams Field's first points came after a long return on a pooch kickoff that Braeden Kirsner returned to the Highland 17. Xavier Buckles came on at quarterback, completed a pass for a first down to the 6, and Dylan Lee ran for one of his two touchdowns on the night.

Buckles started the second half for Williams Field and, after the second-half kickoff, he led the Black Hawks to a touchdown, hitting Joshua Sandru from 5 yards out to cut the score to 29-14. But Highland responded with a score.

"I thought we executed really well on both sides of the ball," Highland coach Brock Farrel said. "Really, I think the only thing that hurt us was that we tried to pooch it, and I didn't know No. 12 also ran the 100-meter dash really fast. Our kickoff coverage wasn't great on that one play."

Even though Williams Field got within 36-21 with 7:20 to play behind Lee's 23-yard run that set up his 1-yard score, Highland was able to keep an 80-yard scoring drive going on third-down pass from Fisher to Gavin Priest for 14 yards to the Williams Field 27. A couple of plays later, Marin was in the end zone.

Game over.

"Handing the ball off is always our plan," Farrel said. "But Jay showed that he's a finisher."

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert atrichard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Highland relies on punishing defense to stay in Open hunt