In what will be a tight District 28-5A race that will go all the way down to the wire in Week 11, Highlands kept itself heavily involved in the playoff push with a 38-15 victory over Jefferson at Alamo Stadium in the OK3Sports Game of the Week. With the victory, the high-scoring Owls move to 5-1 on the season and are guaranteed to be at least tied for the top spot in the district entering Week 8.

When it comes to facing Highlands and the Joseph Palafos-led offense, the Owls have been mixing the use of his passing ability and the running ability of Rene Palomino to average over 42 points per game heading into Week 7. In the victory over Jefferson, it was Palafos who may have arguably had the best performance of his career thus far.

Palafos was nearly flawless, finishing 25 of 34 through the air for 261 yards and four TDs on the evening. Three of his touchdown strikes went to Dre’Chan Moody, who recorded 10 catches for 133 yards.

The Highlands signal caller found Gabriel Saenz on a 13-yard touchdown strike with 7:38 remaining in the opening quarter. A two-point conversion pass from Palafos to Brandon Medina gave the Owls an early 8-0 advantage. With: 16 remaining in the first quarter, Palafos found Moody for the first time on a 31-yard touchdown pass. Another two-point conversion was successful after Palafos hit Medina again, giving the Owls a 16-0 lead.

With 3:02 remaining before intermission, Highlands’ defense tacked on a touchdown on a 32-yard fumble return by Juan Luna to give the Owls a 23-0 lead at halftime.

Jefferson had some success in the running game with QB Jason Garay and Jalen Pena. Garay rushed for 121 yards on 21 carries and would throw a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to get the Mustangs (2-5, 2-3) on the scoreboard. Pena, who rushed for a game-high 141 yards, would add a touchdown run with 5:16 remaining in the game.

Highlands will take on upstart Sam Houston squad on Oct. 20 at the SAISD Sports Complex. Also on Friday the 20th, Jefferson will attempt to get back on the winning track when it takes on Burbank at Edgewood Memorial Stadium.

Photo Gallery – Owls vs Mustangs– 12 October 2017

Original article posted here.