High school football: Dylan Borla bombs away as Highland hammers Copley

GRANGER TWP. — Highland quarterback Dylan Borla dropped dimes on the field then dropped some rizz to get a homecoming date with golfer/basketball player Bianca Pallante thanks to a Bruno Mars-themed poster and colorful bouquet of flowers. The first-year senior starter lived many a football player's dream Friday night, as his incredibly efficient breakthrough season continued in a workmanlike 44-7 victory over neighboring Copley in the Suburban League American Conference opener. Borla completed 10-of-14 passes (.714) for 210 yards and two touchdowns to All-Ohio running back Casey Myser. Remarkably, that effort made his season completion percentage drop from 81.5 to 78.0. He's been that good. "This is great," a grinning Borla said. "I just did one thing at a time. I worried about the game, then (the homecoming proposal), you know? "It's been a long road. Even through my recoveries, I've been looking forward to these games on the calendar. I've worked so hard to get to this and succeed at this." The road to glory has been painful and grueling for Borla, who underwent ACL reconstruction surgeries in the eighth and 11th grades. The confident, outgoing right-hander bided his time, won a QB competition with a classmate covering his freshman and sophomore seasons and soaked in what he could from older QBs Aaron Filips, Andrew Lurtz and Peyton Janickas. Borla has now taken the job by the horns and showed off nearly every throw in the Highland playbook against the Indians (1-3, 0-1). He lollipopped two screens to Medina County leading scorer Myser (15 carries, 93 yards, 2 TDs; 4 catches, 94 yards, 2 TDs), fired a dart of a bubble to Lucas Gerding, dropped a couple sideline out routes to Nick Dobkowski and rifled a shot down the seam to Gerding for a 39-yard gain. With Copley selling out to stop the run — the Hornets had 198 yards on 39 carries — Borla took advantage and was 9-for-12 for 194 yards as Highland (4-0, 1-0) rolled to a 34-7 halftime lead. "For him to continue to battle and work hard, he's such a good kid," coach Mike Gibbons said. "He's a leader, he's great in the classroom, he's great in the community. Obviously he's taken advantage of his senior year and is having a great season at quarterback. "He has a great ability to take what's there and be really smart with the football. There's a lot to be said for that. He's got a really good arm and throws the ball with really good touch, but he's not forcing anything and taking advantage of his opportunities." Copley gave the Hornets a bit of a run for most of the first quarter by featuring a quick passing game with quarterback Gabe Mansel (13-for-28, 201 yards, INT). While Highland defensive end Caleb McKeen helped set up a 14-0 lead by stripping running back Tony Cox at the Indians 19-yard line — the Hornets' Cody Bendau recovered — and Myser's second TD made the score 21-0, Copley made things somewhat interesting for a few minutes. Initially keeping Highland honest with inside runs and quick throws, Mansel began pushing the ball down the sidelines to Andrew McKnight (5 catches, 81 yards), Jacob Kuczkowski and Caleb Wisniewski. A 20-yard TD strike to McKnight cut the deficit to 20-7 early in the second quarter. The Hornets soon regrouped, and a 14-yard Myser TD run answered just 1:23 later. A strip-sack by Carson Noonan that was recovered by Ryan Zywiec on the Copley 14 was the dagger, as Myser eventually caught an 18-yard wheel route to push the ante to 34-7. The Hornets scored again by eating the initial 5:56 of the third quarter to begin the running clock. By that point, Borla had proved his point. Stack the box and he'll make you pay. "I know my line will protect me, so I have enough time to go through my reads," Borla said. "With the coverage they were playing, I knew one guy was going to be open and that was the case. "When we wanted to run the ball, we could, and when we wanted to pass the ball, we could. I feel like that hasn't been there the past couple years, and now I feel like we're a dual threat." Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com. Highland 44, Copley 7 COPLEY &emsp;&emsp;0 7 0 0 — 7 HIGHLAND &emsp;&emsp;14 20 7 3 — 44 First H — Casey Myser 13 pass from Dylan Borla (Jonah Kowza kick), 5:11. H — Borla 2 run (Kowza kick), 3:03. Second H — Myser 12 run (kick blocked), 11:51. C — Andrew McKnight 20 pass from Gabe Mansel (Andrew Madden kick), 8:27. H — Myser 14 run (Kowza kick), 7:04. H — Myser 18 pass from Borla (Kowza kick), 1:51. Third H — Evan Foust 8 run (Kowza kick), 6:04. Fourth H — Kowza 27 field goal, 8:16. &emsp;&emsp;C &emsp;&emsp;H First downs &emsp;&emsp;12 &emsp;&emsp;19 Rushing &emsp;&emsp;19/9 39/198 Rushing average &emsp;&emsp;0.5 &emsp;&emsp;5.1 Passing &emsp;&emsp;13/28&emsp;&emsp;10/14 Passing yards &emsp;&emsp;201 &emsp;&emsp;210 Total offense &emsp;&emsp;47/210 53/408 Punting &emsp;&emsp;2/35.0 2/35.5 Penalties &emsp;&emsp;1/5 &emsp;&emsp;5/60 Fumbles &emsp;&emsp;5/3 &emsp;&emsp;0/0 RUSHING: Copley — Mansel 5-8, Tony Cox 13-3, Jason Baines Jr. 1-(-2). Highland — Myser 15-93, Borla 8-24, Dylan Lazar 5-23, Luke Berkmeyer 2-19, Foust 2-13, Cooper Zielinski 2-10, Lucas Gerding 1-9, Colton Winston 1-7, Grady Gibb 1-5, Team 1-(-1), Anthony DePompai 1-(-4). PASSING: Copley — Mansel 13-28-201-1. Highland — Brla 10-14-210-0. RECEIVING: Copley — McKnight 5-81, Caleb Wisniewski 2-67, Jacob Kuczkowski 3-31, Scooby Stanford 2-17, Cox 1-5. Highland — Myser 4-94, Gerding 2-58, Nick Dobkowski 2-29, Berkmeyer 1-22, Foust 1-7.