Highlands motivated to start Greater Allegheny Conference play against North Catholic

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, September 13, 2023 | 4:55 PM

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For the Highlands football team, the road to the WPIAL playoffs kicks into high gear Friday.

After three victories in nonconference play to start the season, the Golden Rams open Greater Allegheny Conference action on the road at perennial playoff contender North Catholic (1-2).

Highlands coach Matt Bonislawski knows what awaits. Of the Golden Rams’ five conference victories last year, the North Catholic win by 10 points (17-7) was the closest margin.

“North Catholic always is a challenge to prepare for,” Bonislawski said.

“They have big, strong kids. They are 260, 270 (pounds) across the board. The (Brady) O’Hara kid has Power 5 offers from Pitt, Penn State, West Virginia. Last year was a very physical, hard-nosed football game, and I expect nothing less from this year’s game.”

Friday’s conference opener is set for 7 p.m. at Stone Field in North Park.

“We have the goal of getting back to the playoffs and doing better than we did last year, getting past the first round, and it all starts with Friday’s game,” said senior running back and linebacker Luke Bombalski, who had 110 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries in last year’s win over North Catholic.

“We can see everyone getting better each week, and we’re just super excited to start conference play.”

Winning on the road is nothing new for Highlands this season.

The Golden Rams made the trip to Ambridge in Week Zero and scored a 45-8 victory. Two weeks ago at Blackhawk, Highlands pulled away in the second half for a 33-20 triumph.

Highlands opened the home portion of its schedule last Friday and improved to 3-0 with a 35-15 victory over Chartiers Valley.

“We came out and were a little more consistent,” Bonislawski said. “That is something we’ve been working on improving each week. The guys up front started to feel it, and they got rolling. It got to the point where it didn’t matter who was running. Julius (Saunders), Darius (Cherry) were in there running hard.”

Bombalski and Aaran Randolph combined for 308 yards and four touchdowns on 28 carries as the run game totaled 352 yards.

Randolph, however, was banged up during the game and was questionable to start the week. His status is up in the air for Friday, Bonislawski said.

Randolph has collected 481 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 36 attempts. He had 119 yards and a TD on 10 rushes against Chartiers Valley.

“He’s been doing a great job for us, what has been expected of him,” Bonislawski said. “We’ve been trying to work more on our passing game just to get him more involved that way.”

Backup quarterback Manage Lucas has been taking snaps with the first-team offense and could see action Friday.

Lucas, at 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds, also factors into the game plan on defense at linebacker.

“Manage is a strong kid with a great arm,” Bonislawski said. “He missed some time the first two weeks with a minor injury. It would be a different look to the offense. But he is a great athlete.”

Bonislawski said offensive line play will be a key.

“If we come out and block like we’re supposed to up front, we’ll be fine,” he said.

Bombalski again was a terror on defense with 14 tackles and two sacks against the Colts. He owns a team-best 44 tackles, eight sacks and a fumble recovery through three games.

The Golden Rams have 18 sacks as a team, with senior Brennan Haidze contributing four and junior Jordan Gangloff three.

North Catholic outlasted Serra Catholic, 49-42, in Week Zero, suffered a 34-28 overtime loss to Shady Side Academy two weeks ago and fell to Class 4A No. 1 Aliquippa, 33-7, last Friday.

The Quips led 20-0 at halftime and 26-0 in the fourth quarter before the Trojans scored on a 23-yard TD pass from Kaden Sarver to senior Jack Fennell.

“That game was closer than the final score would indicate,” Bonislawski said.

“They struggled a little bit to get going, but they made some plays. They slowed Aliquippa down at points and made them really work. They were tough and didn’t back down.”

Fennell also is one to watch out of the North Catholic backfield. He has rushed for a team-best 317 yards on 47 attempts. He carried the ball 14 times for 171 yards and four touchdowns in the win over Serra.

“He is very explosive and has great speed in the open field,” Bonislawski said. “He has great vision to find the open running lanes. He can score at any time and from any spot on the field. We can’t let him break any big runs.”

O’Hara, a 6-6, 240-pound defensive end and tight end, creates havoc in the trenches and also is a combo blocker and pass catcher on offense.

“He’s just a big, strong kid who is very long,” Bonislawski said.

“He’s a matchup nightmare no matter what he is doing. If you don’t contain him, he can have his way. You always have to know where he is at.”

Series history

Here are the results of the last 10 games between North Catholic and Highlands:

2022: Highlands 17, North Catholic 7

1997: North Catholic 23, Highlands 15

1996: North Catholic 37, Highlands 0

1995: North Catholic 28, Highlands 7

1994: North Catholic 54, Highlands 0

1993: North Catholic 34, Highlands 0

1992: North Catholic 15, Highlands 0

1991: Highlands 15, North Catholic 0

1989: Highlands 26, North Catholic 6

1988: Highlands 17, North Catholic 7

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Highlands, North Catholic