dangell@journalnet.com

As soon as their game against Juan Diego was over Thursday, the Highland Rams sprinted to the end zone and waited for coach Gino Mariani to join them there.

Once Mariani came jogging up to speak to them, the Rams greeted him with a rousing chorus of "Happy Birthday". After the present they had just given him, Mariani couldn't help but smile.

"It was a good way to finish off the day," Mariani said after the Rams had grounded the Soaring Eagles 28-3. "It was a good win. I thought defensively, we dominated the game up front and really controlled the line of scrimmage. Against a team that runs the veer as well as they do, that was the key to the game."

Forcing several turnovers didn't hurt either. The Rams (5-1) got interceptions from Dillon Filiaga, Dillon Griggs and Jordan Duran and later recovered a fumble to thwart any chance Juan Diego had of getting back into the game once Highland had built a big lead.

"The defense did a great job tonight," senior defensive end Dillon Evans said. "I feel like everyone stayed locked down, took their positions and did their jobs right every down. It shows in the end."

And it's done so for five consecutive weeks now. But this game had a different feel for the Rams than their previous four victories. Evans said that Highland hadn't been playing a full game on either side of the ball earlier in the season, and that was something that had to change if the Rams wanted to defend the title they won a year ago.

"The defense was big this week about not just playing one half," he said. "(We focused on) not just going strong one half at a time, come out and perform the whole game and get us prepared to go to state. We held them pretty well, and other than the punts that they had, we had a pick or fumble recovery or something."

And those turnovers set the Rams' offense up with several short fields, which quarterback Tanner Nielson took full advantage of. The Highland junior threw for two touchdowns and ran another one in, an effort that both his coach and his teammates were pleased with. Outside of his touchdowns, Nielson completed 20 of 30 passes and threw for 197 yards.

Mariani said that the Rams' offense has progressed slowly all season, but that it's almost at a point that he can be satisfied with.

"We're getting closer," he said. "Our execution wasn't perfect, there's still a lot of things we can improve in. But we're getting to the point that it's getting closer. They blitzed us quite a bit, and you've got to be able to throw the football against that type of eight-man front. They kind of forced us into it, but we don't mind that, because we can throw the football."

That in turn has made Highland a stronger group when it plays a full game.

"We have so much more confidence now that we're not worried about going down and having to fight back from a loss," Evans said. "If you can get a two-score lead, that's a great backup. The confidence is one of the main things that you need. We all have the talent to come out and play hard."

The Rams will need to do exactly that next week in the Black and Blue Bowl against city rival Pocatello next week. Although Highland's 5-1 record certainly appears more impressive than Pocatello's 1-4, the Rams plan on being ready for the Indians' best game.

"Their season comes down to this game," Mariani said of Pocatello. "It means quite a bit to them. We'll get prepared like we normally do and look for a spirited game Friday night."