Senior quarterback Lucas Anthrop found junior speedster wide receiver Ayden Earls in a one-on-one matchup for a 54-yard touchdown reception and junior Blake Minor booted the extra point to give the Campbell County Camels a rare 7-6 lead against the Highlands Bluebirds.

The Camels enjoyed it for three minutes, 24 seconds before the Bluebirds retook the lead for good. Anthrop found sophomore Cade Anthrop for a 36-yard touchdown pass with 1:11 left in the first half. Outside of that, Highlands dominated to rack up the 12th win in the 13th annual meeting between the two since the series restarted in 2013.

In those 12 wins, Highlands (3-0 overall) has outscored Campbell County (2-1) by a combined 340 points for an average margin of victory between 28 and 29 points. The lone Campbell County win came 24-21 in Claryville in 2016.

“We got to get healthy,” said Brian Weinrich, Campbell County head coach. “We were missing so many guys, but that doesn’t matter. The guys that went out there got after it and played hard. We’re building and will go from there.”

Highlands outgained Campbell County, 559-264 in total offense, including a 183-92 advantage on the ground. Highlands senior quarterback Rio Litmer completed 24-of-29 passes for 312 yards and two touchdowns. Thirteen different receivers caught passes for Highlands. Junior Gabe Williams led Highlands with four catches for 59 yards.

“I thought that was clearly the most efficient we played offensively,” said Bob Sphire, Highlands head coach. “Obviously, the offensive line is kind of what starts that. But I think Rio Litmer is really dialed in. He’s taking what the defense is giving us. He’s getting the ball out of his hands. He’s finding where the best throws are in the system.”

Lucas Anthrop completed 6-of-11 passes for 129 yards and two touchdowns for the Camels and rushed for 49 yards on 14 carries. Earls caught five passes for 97 yards. After Campbell County answered a Williams 1-yard run in the first quarter, Litmer tossed a 9-yard touchdown to Mikey Abner and Tayden Lorenzen scored the conversion run to put Highlands up 14-7 after the first quarter.

The Bluebirds extended that lead to 27-7 in the second quarter. Ian Garrahan caught a 38-yard touchdown pass from Litmer and Litmer scrambled for a 9-yard touchdown run. The Bluebireds led 27-13 at halftime.

Highlands put up 14 points in each of the next two quarters to pull away, hitting the running clock in the fourth quarter. The Bluebirds led 41-13 after three when sophomore Colt Kremer broke loose and a fended off a number of tackles on his way to a 52-yard touchdown run before Lorenzen scored from one yard out.

Freshman Bryce Armstrong came in at quarterback for Highlands in the fourth quarter. Armstrong threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to freshman Quinton Simon then scrambled for a 19-yard touchdown run to make the final score.

Campbell County travels to Cooper (1-2) on Friday for another non-district game. Cooper comes in off a 20-13 road win at Ryle.

Box Score:
Campbell County 7 6 0 0 — 13
Highlands 14 13 14 14 — 55

Scoring Plays:

First Quarter
H (8:04) – Gabe Williams, 1 run (kick failed)
C (3:38) – Ayden Earls, 54 pass from Lucas Anthrop (Blake Minor kick)
H (:14) – Mikey Abner, 9 pass from Rio Litmer (Tayden Lorenzen run)

Second Quarter
H (8:48) – Ian Garrahan, 38 pass from Litmer (Kai Anderson kick)
H (3:50) – Litmer, 9 run (kick failed)
C (1:11) – Cade Anthrop, 36 pass from Lucas Anthrop (kick failed)

Third Quarter
H (10:09) – Colt Kremer, 52 run (Anderson kick)
H (3:18) – Lorenzen, 1 run (Anderson kick)

Fourth Quarter
H (9:56) – Quinton Simon, 30 pass from Bryce Armstrong (Anderson kick)
H (4:22) – Armstrong, 19 run (Anderson kick)