The Glenvar Highlanders got their football season off to a good start with a win at Galax last Friday.

The Highlanders came from behind for a 28-24 win. “It was a tough game, we knew it would be,” said Glenvar coach Kevin Clifford. “We only had two returning defensive starters at the same positions, and they have a very good team. They outplayed us the first half. I’m proud of the way our kids came back.” The score was tied 7-7 after one quarter and Glenvar took a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter on the second of two short touchdown runs by Christian Smith. However, the Maroon Tide scored on a 29 yard pass play, then got a field goal late in the half to go up 17-14 at intermission.

The Highlanders came on strong in the third quarter, shutting out the Tide while taking the lead on a 71 yard pass play from Landry Gerbers to Justice Forster. Glenvar made it 28-17 in the fourth quarter with Brady Loder capping off the drive with a 19 yard run. Galax would score one more time, on a 23 yard pass play with 5:10 on the clock. However, the Highlanders would kill out the rest of the time as the Tide never got the ball back. “We played really well on that last drive,” said Clifford.

“Landry made some clutch throws on third down.” Gerbers finished 13 for 17 passing for 253 yards. His main targert was Forster, who caught seven balls for 173 yards. Nick Sebolt caught two passes for 69. On the ground, Loder was the bell cow. He was questionable with an ankle sprain early in the week but he showed up large at game time, rushing 29 times for 161 yards. On defense Colby Street led the Highlanders with 16 tackles, including two for losses. Maxx Philpott had three tackles for losses among his 13 and Forster had five tackles, an interception and two deflected passes to cap off a big night on both sides of the ball. “He’s the consummate program player,” said Clifford of Forster. “He’s a senior and he’s worked hard and now he’s taking advantage of the opportunity.” Clifford was pleased with the win but, as always, there were some kinks to be worked out.

That’s not unusual for opening day. “The things we did wrong are all correctable,” he said. “We played with a lot of heart and we played together. There are two things you need to be successful. You need to give a great effort and you need to be coachable. I’m excited about our prospects.” This week the Highlanders are home for the first time to play host to Covington. The Cougars opened with a 28-7 win over Alleghany in their traditional opener last week. “They beat up Alleghany,” said Clifford. “They’re very athletic, but our main focus is to worry about us and get better. If we do that we’ll be fine.”