The Highland High School athletic community came together on the Carl F. Meekins Field on September 23 to celebrate a “Night of Champions.” The pregame ceremony, which took place prior to the Varsity Football team’s first home game of the season, recognized former Husky players and honored retired coach Carl Relyea.

Relyea, who helmed the Highland Varsity Football program from 1986 to 2015, led the Huskies to 146 wins and six Section IX championships. He is a Highland resident who worked as a physical education teacher in the District for many years before retiring in 2016.

“Coach Relyea’s Huskies were a Class C powerhouse in the 90s,” said Highland Central School District Athletic Director Frank Alfonso, adding that the team’s Sectional title in 1991 provided Highland with its first football trophy in two decades.

During that span of dominance, the Huskies also won a pair of State Regional titles, which resulted in two final four appearances. He led his team to its last Sectional title in 2008.

To honor Coach Relyea’s accomplishments, he was presented with the inaugural Coach Carl Relyea Award, which will be given annually to an individual who has positively impacted the football program in Highland.

The Huskies may have lost their game against John S. Burke Catholic High School, but even that couldn’t put a damper on the evening’s celebration. Go Huskies!