Highland Park broke out in 2024, now Owls look to keep it going with one more goal in mind

The Highland Park football program has come a long way under Shawn Harrison, who inherited a team in 2021 that hadn’t won a game since beating arch-rival Metcuhen in their 2016 season finale, a Turkey Day rivalry victory.

Wins didn’t come right off the bat.  It took a lot of hard work, dedication and preseverence, but they finally got one at Point Pleasant Beach in their 2023 finale.

Good things and success take time.

Then came 2024, when the Owls not only won their opener, but took their first three games,putting them on a four-game win streak overall.  And though they narrowly missed finishing in the top 16 for the playoffs, Highland Park finished the year 6-3, their first .500-or-better season in almost a decade.

This year?

Highland Park has clear expectations:  keep winning.

Though they lose quarterback Markos Hantsoulis to graduation, his cousins, twins Kosta and Stamatis return, as do a host of others who have been through the battles without seeing immediate results, then were rewarded greatly last year.

So, why not again for the Owls?  After all there’s one more goal still out there for the taking.

A playoff spot.

Click below to hear from Highland Park head coach Shawn Harrison and seniors Stamatis Hantsoulis and Jared Matos with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko at Big Central Media Day: