After opening the season with a tough loss on the road the Scotties got some home cooking as they hosted Ellsworth for the 2019 home opener at Porter Family Stadium and Highland picked up their first win of the season.

The #16 Scotties picked up the 21-0 shutout win over the Panthers of Ellsworth moving Highland to 1-1 on the season and marking the third time the Scotties have shutout a team in the Arnold era (last time was versus Ellsworth in 2017).

After a tight first half where the Scotties carried only a 7-0 lead into intermission the Scotties controlled the second half holding Ellsworth to less than 50 yards in the second half and secured the win. Scotties outgained the Panthers 411 to 165 total yards in the game.

Electing to start on defense the Scotties forced a punt from Ellsworth and then marched down the field knocking on the door of an early score. Alfonso Franklin busted off a 24-yard towards the endzone but the ball was fumbled through the endzone. Highland got the ball back on the next defensive series when Courtney Ledyard ripped the ball away for the Panther ball carrier, setting up a short field. The endzone would once again be locked for the Scotties as they were halted inside the five and turned the ball over on downs.

Over the next four drives the ball would be turned over on downs three times and the contest remained scoreless until the 4:10 mark of the second quarter when Demarco Fishback capped an eight play 51 yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run and with the extra point the Scotties led 7-0.

Highland continued to move the ball in the second half using a balanced mix of the pass and run and out of halftime the Scotties took the ball 56 yards in five plays for their second touchdown a five-yard run by Fishback. With the extra point the Scotties moved their lead to 14-0 at the 13:09 mark in the third quarter.

Scotties would force another pair of Panther turnovers as Brian George snatched his first interception and Zykeith Wimbley recovered another fumble his second of the season. While Highland put the final touches on the contest with their third touchdown of the day as Kenny Mayberry in his first start connected with Deontay Campbell for a 15-yard touchdown pass with 5:08 remaining Highland went to win 21-0.

Leading the way on offense was Fishback who finished with 80 yards rushing 15 carries and two touchdowns adding three catches for 18 yards, while Mayberry went 16-27 for 237 yards with a touchdown and interception. Antoine Thompson led the receiving corps snagging five passes for 62 yards.

On defense Curtis Harris recorded 11 tackles, while Ledyard finished with nine tackles, a forced fumble and fumble recovery. William McCall notched eight tackles in the win and EJ Thomas finished with six tackles.

Scotties will look to build upon their first win of the season and now face a tough task on the road in week three as they travel to El Dorado, Kansas to face #10 Butler in a KJCCC matchup.