COPLEY — Highland visits Copley in a Week 5 high school football game on Friday, Sept. 19.
Highland is 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the Suburban League American Conference. Copley is 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the Suburban League American Conference.
Barberton, Copley, Highland and Revere enter Friday tied atop the SLAC standings.
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Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Check back here for updates throughout the game.
Highland tops Copley 42-9 in an OHSAA football game
Highland wins 42-9.
Highland leads Copley 42-9 through three quarters in an OHSAA football game
Copley QB Dane Wininger runs 1 yard for a touchdown as time expires in the third quarter and Matthew Panzer kicks the PAT. Highland leads Copley 42-9.
Highland leads Copley 42-2 in third quarter of OHSAA football game
Copley gets a safety to make it 42-2 with 8:25 to go in the third quarter. Highland attempted a punt and there was an errant snap over the punter’s head. The punter ran towards the ball and kicked it out of the end zone.
Highland leads Copley 42-0 at halftime in an OHSAA football game
Highland leads 42-0 at halftime.
Highland leads Copley 42-0 in second quarter of OHSAA football game
Highland takes a 42-0 lead over Copley with 4:39 to go in the second quarter. Grady Gibb throws a 13-yard touchdown pass to Jake Weber and Landon Kuzma kicks the PAT.
Highland leads Copley 35-0 in second quarter of OHSAA football game
Highland takes a 35-0 lead over Copley with 7:48 to go in the second quarter. Casey Myser runs 6 yards for a touchdown and Landon Kuzma kicks the PAT.
The drive included a Grady Gibb 32-yard pass to Dan Miller.
Highland leads Copley 28-0 at end of first quarter in OHSAA football game
Highland leads 28-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Highland leads Copley 28-0 in first quarter of OHSAA football game
Highland takes a 28-0 lead over Copley with 1:07 to go in the first quarter. Dylan Lazar runs 6 yards for a touchdown and Jonah Kowza kicks the PAT.
The drive included a Grady Gibb 20-yard pass to Ben Radigan, a 6-yard run by Gibb and a 9-yard run by Lazar.
Highland leads Copley 21-0 in first quarter of OHSAA football game
Highland takes a 21-0 lead over Copley with 3:49 to go in the first quarter. Casey Myser runs 63 yards for a touchdown and Jonah Kowza kicks the PAT.
Highland leads Copley 14-0 in first quarter of OHSAA football game
Highland takes a 14-0 lead over Copley with 8:54 to go in the first quarter. Casey Myser runs 6 yards for a touchdown and Jonah Kowza kicks the PAT.
Highland had a short field after Kallen Whitling recorded an interception. He dove to catch the ball and gave the Hornets the ball on the Copley 25-yard line with 9:55 on the clock.
The drive included an 11-yard run by Grady Gibb.
Highland leads Copley 7-0 in first quarter of OHSAA football game
Highland takes a 7-0 lead over Copley with 10:58 to go in the first quarter. Grady Gibb throws a 39-yard touchdown pass to Jake Weber and Jonah Kowza kicks the PAT.
Scouting the Highland football team
Highland has wins over McDowell of Pennsylvania (49-10), Hudson (32-0), Avon Lake (34-7) and Aurora (41-7).
Hornets quarterback Grady Gibb is 32-of-35 passing for 546 yards and six touchdowns in four games. His 265 yards rushing and three TDs on 38 carries are the perfect complement to Casey Myser (62 carries, 410 yards, six TDs). Highland has a three-headed attack at receiver with Lucas Gerding (11 catches, 172 yards, TD), Nick Dobkowski (seven catches, 198 yards, two TDs) and Evan Foust (five catches, 143 yards, TD).
Highland is coached by Mike Gibbons.
Scouting the Copley football team
Copley opened the season with a 34-20 loss to Streetsboro and then defeated Firestone 49-19, Garfield 41-0 and Tallmadge 49-7.
Copley quarterback Dane Wininger is 55-of-95 passing for 857 yards and eight touchdowns in four games. All of his eight touchdown passes have gone to Andrew McKnight (20 catches, 484 yards). Jacob Kuczkowski has 18 catches for 284 yards and scored a TD after he recovered a fumbled kickoff. RB Bryce Martin has run for 561 yards and eight TDs on 71 carries Hendrix Sickels (44 tackles, eight for loss) has been a menace at linebacker.
Copley is coached by John Kromalic.
Highland football’s returning lettermen (28)
Copley football’s returning lettermen (20)
Highland football’s impact players
It begins with Casey Myser. The first-team All-Ohioan set school records with 2,130 yards rushing and 39 touchdowns on the ground last season. Add 433 yards receiving and seven more scores and you see just how special he is. … Evan Foust (28 receptions, 577 yards, five TDs), Lucas Gerding (25 receptions, 447 yards, three TDs) and Nick Dobkowski (22 receptions, 375 yards, seven TDs) return from a record-setting pass attack for the Hornets as well. … “We feel really good about the skill guys we have coming back,” Gibbons said. “It’s big to have Casey back, especially after what he’s done at running back the last two years.” … The entire linebacking group is back with Foust (88 tackles, four sacks), Jameson Gordon (73 tackles) and Kallen Whitling (59 tackles) in the mix. That should be critical as Highland fills in things up front. … “It’s huge having those guys back,” Gibbons said. “A lot more will be expected of them to have even bigger years.”
Copley football’s impact players
Lucas Tielsch, Donovan Crook, Andrew McKnight, Rhalachai Childs and Hendrix Sickels are five senior leaders for Copley. … “Lucas Tielsch on the football team is a huge deal,” third-year coach John Kromalic said. “Left tackle, he’s played for us for three years. This will be his fourth year starting. Obviously, we think very highly of him. He is going to Minnesota. He is a well-decorated kid, he is an even better leader off the field and he is pretty dominant force on both sides of the ball.” … Tielsch had 26 pancake blocks last year and helped Copley run for 1,791 yards on 354 attempts. … Crook had 68 tackles (37 solo and 12 for loss) with three sacks last year, and has an offer from Ohio Dominican. … “Donovan Crook has been a pretty dominant force as well,” Kromalic said. “He plays nose [tackle] and guard for us. He is a big kid who plays really well.” … McKnight has offers from Ashland, Walsh, Lake Erie and Wheeling to play wide receiver. McKnight had 57 receptions for 926 yards and 14 TDs, and also scored a rushing touchdown with 72 yards on 18 carries. … “Andrew McKnight is a fantastic football player,” Kromalic said. “He is all over the field. He started a few [varsity] games as a freshman as well. He makes the top-10 wide receiver list every year now in your Akron Beacon Journal rankings. He will be one of those kids that has a lot of numbers for us every week.” … Childs and Sickels are middle linebackers. Childs totaled 87 tackles (55 solo and seven for loss) last year and Sickels added 68 tackles (43 solo). … “Rhalachai Childs and Hendrix Sickels play very well and bring a lot of intensity, one, to our practices and, two, I can imagine that they will be very effective and impactful this year on defense in games,” Kromalic said.
Highland football schedule for 2025
Copley football schedule for 2025
Home games in all CAPS. All games at 7 p.m., unless noted.
Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ. Brad Bournival contributed to this article.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: OHSAA football | Highland at Copley, Ohio high school recap, highlights
Reporting by Michael Beaven, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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