Beadle makes amends, Bulldogs go big and Highland crashes 5A football quarterfinal
Highland senior wideout and linebacker Dylan Beadle’s day did not start well on Saturday. He lost a fumble and the Metamora Redbirds returned it for a 56-yard touchdown.
Beadle needed a little time to clear his mind after the rare mistake.
“I was kind of upset about that but the guys said to me ‘keep your head up we’ve got plenty of game left,’” Beadle said. “I was down for about a minute maybe and then they picked me up the next play.”
Beadle picked way up from there and rebounded in a major way.
The Bulldogs’ shifty playmaker responded with a pair of big-time touchdowns helping third-seeded Highland to a 41-36 win over No. 6-seed Metamora in a second-round IHSA Class 5A playoff game at Highland High School.
Highland, which improved to 10-1, will travel to New Lenox Providence next weekend for its first quarterfinal appearance in five seasons.
Down 30-20 in the fourth quarter, it was Beadle who got Highland’s going and kicked off the Bulldogs three-score run.
On a fit and 10 from the 40, Beadle hauled in a pass from quarterback Blake Gelly, zipped upfield, and shook two defenders for a sizzling 60-yard touchdown catch which made it 30-27.
“I did an out and in and the defender wasn’t very fast so I got him s little too far and got back in, stiff-armed him, and then I just had to keep my balance because I wanted to score and that’s what I did,” Beadle said.
Beadle also made his big play presence felt in the return game, returning a kickoff 70 yards for a score late in the second quarter pulling Highland within 15-13.
Just over two minutes later, the Bulldogs scored on another big pass in the middle of the field as Gelly connected with Wyatt Rinderer on a 61-yard touchdown strike that pushed the Bulldogs ahead for good.
“We were evaluating their defense and halftime and we were just seeing what was there and the middle of the field was there,” Gelly said. “So, the first play was there and we decided to take a shot at it and it came out in our favor. It’s just there.”
Gelly also had a big day as he threw for three TDs and ran for a score on the ground.
Senior running back Hunter Frey finished off the Bulldogs’ touchdown surge with a 2-yard touchdown run with 3:45 left to play.
Frey ran for over 100 yards on the day as the Bulldogs’ leading rusher.
The Bulldogs overcame three lost fumbles and a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to come back in the fourth quarter.
“We just kept getting after and kept battling,” Gelly said. That’s all you can really do because that stiff’s gonna happen.”
Metamora (8-2) scored two touchdowns in the third quarter and held a 30-20 lead. A 12-yard Nick Rhoades to Conner Bidne touchdown pass had the Redbirds poised to close out Highland.
“Things were really tightening up a little bit on us in that second half,” Highland coach Jimmy Warnecke said.
But HHS dug down deep and tapped into its season-long resiliency and answered with 21 straight points to deny Metamora and quarterfinal berth.
“It’s what every coach talks about, fighting through adversity and finding out who you are,” Warnecke said. “Adversity makes the strong stronger or the weaker, weaker. I felt this is a testament to how strong this team was.”
Highland’s big play passing especially on third down ultimately became the Achilles heel for Metamora that hurt the Redbirds.
“There’s times when we call those our money downs and they weren’t money today,” Metamora coach Jared Grebner said. We were not able to get off the field and they were able to hit some (passes) up the sideline and down the pike and stuff. They had playmakers all over the field.”
Against New Lenox Providence, the Bulldogs will be looking to advance and make their first semifinal appearance since 2017, when they lost to Rochester 31-14.
