The Highland Park Scots football team kicked off the district portion of their season on Friday Sept. 22 in Lovejoy. The Scots won 50-7 against the Lovejoy Leopards, revealing a side of the team that had yet to be seen this season.

“We used the first three games to find out our weaknesses, and we played some really strong  competition,” head coach Randy Allen said in an interview with Park Cities People. “We went to work, and it showed.”

The team’s overall record is now three wins and one loss, and their district record is one win and no losses. They had a tough loss in game one against Rockwall, but went on to win their next two games, against Waxahachie and Mansfield Timberview. The team responded to their first loss by playing their best all-around game of the season against Lovejoy.

John Stephen Jones threw four touchdowns and ran for another in the first half, leaving the score at 36-0. Jones passed for 251 yards in the first half, while the Leopards tallied 54 total yards as a team. Lovejoy’s only touchdown was scored on their last possession of the game, when a 13-yard scoring pass capped a 16 play drive that lasted more than seven minutes.

“We wiped the floor with Lovejoy,” sophomore Krishan Patel said. “It was pretty fun to watch touchdown after touchdown. At a certain point it was like yup, the Scots are going to win.”

The Scots defense shut down Lovejoy, not allowing a first down until only 4:07 was left in the first half. Lovejoy committed two turnovers and had to punt twice. The Leopards only scored once, in the last minute of the game.

“Our defensive line controlled the scrimmage,” Allen said. “We got pressure on the quarterback and played great pass defense. We didn’t give them a big play.”

The student body sent off the team by showing some spirit at Friday’s pep rally. Coach Max Hawsey had one side of the gym shout “beat” and the other side shout “Lovejoy!” The pep rally also featured the introduction of Taiwanese exchange students, the Belles dancing to “When Love Takes Over“, the junior varsity and freshman cheer teams performing a routine, and the Scotsman presenting a skit.

After playing three of their first four games on the road, the Scots will return home to play North Forney.