Highland targeting defensive improvement under new scheme

Published 12:33 pm Tuesday, July 21, 2026

LEWISTOWN, Mo. — Defense is an area that Highland has been working on improving on this offseason.

New Cougars head coach Mason Swisher has been working on building up the team’s confidence.

“We’re just really working on getting their confidence and their effort up, and their execution,” said Swisher. “I think as they get more confident, they’ll become better and they’ll become more aggressive. Hopefully, we can kind of simplify it and let them get after it, know what they’re doing and not have to hesitate.”

Highland is working on improving upon a defense that allowed 48.2 points per game last season.

“We just have to teach them how to overcome some adversity because no game goes perfect,” said Swisher. “Just how are you going to answer that? You know, just the things you do as a coach. Especially when the kids haven’t won as much. So really emphasize the positive things they do to kind of build them up.”

The Cougars bring back nine starters from last year’s defense, with the team graduating linebacker Chris Gaus and defensive lineman Tyson Voth.

While there were some growing pains last year, Highland is hoping that having experience will pay off this season.

“Bringing people back is our biggest strength,” said Highland senior linebacker Brock Schneider. “We only really lost Chris and Tyson. We only had three or four seniors last year, so we didn’t lose a ton.”

Swisher, who has a defensive background in his various coaching stops, has been working on the fundamentals with Highland.

“From watching the film last year, I think it’s just the fundamentals and getting our drill set down,” said Swisher. “Just getting them to where they read their keys and allow them to be aggressive. Your keys will take them to wherever the play’s going. If we can get them to read their keys and use their athletic ability, I think we should be fine.”

Highland has been learning its new defensive scheme over the summer.

“We got new stuff and we’re learning new things,” said McReynolds. “The defense is doing great.”

McReynolds leads a defensive line group that includes several juniors and sophomore Cooper Hinton.

“It’s a little different defensively,” said Swisher. “We’ll be a four-man front the majority of the time. I’m a four-man guy, so I probably run more of a 4-2-5 look, just to try to play sound defense.”

The players have already noticed some improvement this offseason.

“I feel like it’s already a lot better since last year,” said Highland senior inside linebacker Ashton Schultz. “Everything on the defense is definitely well executed. I feel like we all pretty much know what we’re doing before the play even happens, which is good.”

Schultz joins seniors Levi Dent and Schneider in the linebacking corps.

“We return a lot of guys,” said Schneider. “We lost Chris and that hurts, but we return three linebackers for sure — me, Levi and Ashton. We’ll fill that downhill aspect that Chris had.”

Schneider is ready to get downhill.

“I’m at my best defensively, keying guards and getting downhill,” said Schneider.

In the secondary, Highland brings back senior Porter Peters and juniors Heath Feldkamp, Dawson Hedges and Xavier Santiago.

Besides the new schemes and coaches, Highland is hoping that senior leadership will help make a difference.

“I tell the guys, I call the play and it’s up to you guys to run it,” said Swisher. “So somebody out there has got to be the leader of each group. I’d like to get these kids to hold each other accountable. I think that’s a big thing. Not being a jerk, but to help set the tone because we’re not out there as coaches when we play, we’re just on the sidelines.”

Swisher has seen some improvement since the start of the summer.

“They were better in the seven-on-sevens at the end than they were at the start of them,” said Swisher. “They were so much better. They were making their checks. They were getting the right guys covered in the right spot. Back-end wise, I was really happy with our seven-on-sevens. We had them every Monday at Clark (County in June), and we got so much better.”