Northern Highlands Powers Past Mount Olive to Return to Sectional Final

photo by: Owen Klasey | coverage by: Marco Morales

Northern Highlands is heading back to the sectional championship after a strong 20–7 win over Mount Olive in the North 1, Group 4 semifinals on Friday night in Allendale.

The Highlanders wasted no time setting the tone. Senior Chase Calarco opened the scoring in the first quarter with a short touchdown run to give Northern Highlands the early edge, and the defense followed suit, forcing punts and keeping Mount Olive’s offense quiet through the half.

In the second quarter, Northern Highlands extended its lead when Tucker Kanning broke through for his first touchdown of the night, giving the Highlanders a 13–0 advantage at the break.

Coming out of halftime, Kanning struck again — this time breaking outside for a 28-yard touchdown run that put Highlands ahead 20–0 midway through the third quarter. Behind a powerful offensive line and a disciplined run-heavy approach, the Highlanders controlled the clock and the tempo.

Mount Olive finally got on the board late in the fourth quarter on a one-yard quarterback sneak by Frank Gallo, but it was too little, too late against a Northern Highlands defense that had dominated the trenches all night.

We spoke with Carter Blatner after the game on the Highlander's strong defensive presence: "Last night we had to stop the run and make there offense be forced to do something they don’t want to do and we had to dominate up front and control the game". 

With the win, Northern Highlands advances to the North 1, Group 4 final, setting up another highly anticipated matchup with rival Ramapo — a familiar postseason showdown between two of North Jersey’s perennial powers. "I think the turning point for us against Ramapo is to not give up big plays and play our game there’s going to be a lot of people there and we got to control the controllables" stated Blatner. Stay tuned as we gear up for another battle between these formidable rivals.