22 October 2021 | parkcitiespeople.com
Sports
TALL TASK: THROWING OVER SCOTS’ SECONDARY
Long wingspans provide potential advantage to HP safeties, cornerbacks By Todd Jorgenson People Newspapers
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s a power forward on the Highland Park basketball team, Preston Taylor is just one of many tall trees. But Taylor’s 6-foot-5 frame is much more unusual for a safety on the football field, where he finds his height can be equally advantageous. “With a longer wingspan, you can break up passes easier,” Taylor said. “You can get to some passes that other people can’t.” Taylor isn’t the only member of the Scots’ secondary who stands out. Blake Bevans is a 6-foot-3 cornerback, and Jonathan Thomas is just an inch shorter at the other safety spot. At about 6 feet, cornerback Adam Rourke is average-sized for his position yet seems almost tiny compared to his abnormally lanky teammates.
You can get to some passes that other people can’t. Preston Taylor “It’s totally coincidental,” said HP head coach Randy Allen. “It’s a nice advantage when your players have height to go with speed and instincts, especially when you
Highland Park’s taller than usual secondary includes Preston Taylor (24) at 6-foot-5 and 6-foot-3 Blake Bevans (31). (PHOTOS: CHRIS MCGATHEY AND MELISSA MACATEE)
get matched up against a taller receiver.” Taylor’s length matches that of former Dallas Cowboys safety Pat Watkins, the tallest safety in NFL history. Naturally, Taylor started as a receiver before shifting to safety in middle school. Bevans made a similar position switch. “It helps me. Usually, corners are shorter and quicker,” Bevans said. “Some of the knockdowns I had last year were because of my wingspan.” Of the eight cornerbacks named to the
NFL’s Pro Bowl last season, none were over 6-foot-1. All-pro receivers, on the other hand, were more than an inch taller on average. Height can be an advantage when contesting fade routes and other high throws. But Taylor also has been one of the team’s leading tacklers so far this season. “We’ve had other corners and other safeties that weren’t as tall,” Allen said. “It’s an advantage if you can bend your hips and keep leverage on your tackling.”
The secondary will be critical to HP’s hopes of defending its District 6-5A Division I title this season. League play starts on Oct. 1 at Sherman. For Bevans, perhaps the extra reach can compensate for a half-step against a quicker receiver, as the Scots will face some top pass-catchers throughout the season. “It helps that we have such a tough non-district schedule,” he said. “We’re getting challenged at the beginning to see how we handle adversity.”
Sophie Biediger Embraces Team Aspects of Individual Sport
Lady Scots top golfer aims to lead Highland Park on another state run
Biediger said. “It’s really fun to have a team of girls who love golf like you do. We can all People Newspapers work together toward a common goal for our school.” During her freshman season at Highland Biediger’s deep family roots on the links led Park, Sophie Biediger began to embrace the her to start playing at a young age. Her aunt team aspects of high school golf — the camacompeted on the LPGA tour, while her uncle raderie, the mentorship, the cooperation — is a club professional in California. that are otherwise unusual in her sport. In seventh grade, she began playing higher-profile tournaments year-round. By her freshman year, she already was the No. 2 player on the Lady Scots roster and qualified for state alongside her teammates. “It’s a lot different from individual tournaments. I want everybody on my team to do well,” she said. “It’s really fun to have the competition on the team. That helps me get better.” Biediger moved into HP’s top spot the Three years later, she’s the one extolling following year. Although the state tournathose same virtues to her younger teammates ment was canceled that spring because of the as she tries to lead the Lady Scots to a third COVID-19 pandemic, she returned in 2021 consecutive appearance at the Class 5A state and individually tied for fourth place, finishing tournament next spring. 22 shots better than her debut. “Since PCP_Nov2021_Banner-1-Revised.pdf I’m the oldest on the team, I use10:40:59 PMSince that May event, she’s been active on 1 9/14/2021 the advice that the upperclassmen taught me the prestigious Legends Junior Tour, which and try to be a leader to the younger players,” includes some of the top junior golfers in
By Todd Jorgenson
It’s really fun to have the competition on the team. That helps me get better. Sophie Biediger
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After tying for fourth place at the 5A state tournament in the spring, Highland Park senior Sophie Biediger is back to lead the Lady Scots. (COURTESY PHOTO) Texas. Her highlight came at a July tournament at Lantana Golf Club, where she won by eight strokes, recorded her first competitive round with no bogeys, and closed with back-to-back rounds under 70. Also, this summer, she placed seventh at the Texas Junior Amateur Championship and finished second in a playoff at the George
Hannon Invitational in Austin. Biediger attributes the improvement to time on the putting green, complementing her typically solid driving and iron play. “That changed the whole trajectory of my game,” said Biediger, who hopes to continue playing golf next year in college. “I’ve improved a lot more since then. I’m excited for this year.”
