The Highland football team traveled to Goshen on Saturday afternoon with an opportunity to put a stranglehold on the Section 9, Class B, Division II standings with a victory over John S. Burke Catholic. While the Huskies fell short in a 34-14 loss, the program is still in the thick of the playoff hunt as the season enters the home stretch. The teams entered the day tied for first in the division, and the win left Burke at the top of the standings at 2-0 in league play, while Highland, Liberty and James I. O’Neill each have one loss apiece in division competition.

The Huskies (1-4) will next host Dobbs Ferry on Friday night, as Highland will get to test its mettle against Section 1 competition before resuming the chase for a Class B playoff spot with a critical game at O’Neill in two weeks.

“We have some stuff obviously that we have to clean up from today,” Highland head coach Josh Tatum said. “We saw a lot of good, but we have a lot we have to work on, and it’s do or die in two weeks.”

Coming off its first win of the season, a 20-7 home victory over Liberty on Sept. 27, Highland kept the momentum going early on Saturday, taking a 7-0 lead with 2:58 left in the first quarter after sophomore running back Osei Adoma cruised in for a three-yard touchdown run.

Facing an early deficit, the Eagles (4-1) cranked up their ground attack, as senior running back Brendan Tierney sliced his way into the end zone for a five-yard TD run to even the game at 7-7 just seven seconds into the second frame. After a quick three and out from the Huskies, Tierney returned the ensuing punt 41 yards to the Highland 16-yard line. Two plays later, freshman running back Chris Leahy tumbled into the end zone for three-yard score and Burke led 14-7 at the 8:36 mark of the second.

Tierney (147 yards rushing on 14 carries) continued his domination with a bruising 37-yard touchdown sprint over and around the Huskies defense to give the Eagles a 20-7 lead with 58 seconds left in the first half.

With Highland attempting to mount a comeback, senior quarterback Brian Joyce (5-10, 71 yards passing, 1 INT) was dinged up early in the third quarter and was replaced for the rest of the game by sophomore quarterback Aden Wiser (3-8, 79 yards passing, 1 TD), who filled in ably. “He took a shot and then took another one in the exact same spot, so we just wanted to be careful with him,” Tatum said of Joyce. “We put Wiser in because we knew he could handle it.”

After a scoreless third quarter, Burke junior quarterback Jackson Hoovler rumbled into the end zone for 15-yard score to give the Eagles a 28-7 lead (after Daniel Weslowski ran in for a two-point conversion) with 9:23 remaining in the contest. Tierney then scored his third and final touchdown of the day, a 10-yard dash into the end zone, to make it 34-7 with 3:57 left on the clock.

With the game out of reach, the Huskies showed a fighting spirit, as senior running back Rashad Anderson caught a short pass from Wiser and raced down the sidelines for a 76-yard score to cut the margin to 34-14 with 91 seconds remaining. After Burke recovered the subsequent onsides kick, the Eagles took two knees to run out the final seconds.

While the showdown with O’Neill in two weeks will determine their postseason fate, the Huskies first have to concentrate on Dobbs Ferry in a big homecoming game on Friday evening. “They’re a tough team and a state semifinalist from last year, so we have to toughen up a bit,” Tatum said. “I think they run the same kind of double-wing that we saw a little bit out of Burke today. So we have to work on knowing where we have to be and what assignments we have to play.”