Basha continued its best start in its 17-year varsity football history Friday night notching its eighth consecutive victory - 24-13 Basha over previously undefeated Highland at Highand High.

Basha hadn't been tested in its first seven wins. Every win was by at least three touchdowns. They got a game from Highland as most expected that was still up for grabs late in the final quarter.

Basha took a 14-13 lead with less than a minute left in the first half. The Bears then scored on their opening possession of the second half, kicked a field goal for a two-score margin with 1:30 to play and their defense pitched a shutout after intermission.

"We expected a brawl with Highland," Basha coach Chris McDonald said. "We kind of won ugly, but I think our kids learned from this. Our defense stepped up tonight. ..... Defense has to be a team's calling card."

Basha junior running back Deshaun Buchanan scored on runs of 3 and 7 yards in the first and third quarters, respectively. Sophomore quarterback Demond Williams Jr. put the Bears ahead to stay with a 35-yard scoring toss to receiver and fellow soph Bryson Dedmon with 57 seconds left in the first half.

With the momentum of the late first-half TD, Basha was in line to receive the second-half kick and made the most of it. The Bears took five minutes to travel 65 yards in 12 plays with Buchanan finding the end zone to complete the march. It was still only a one-score lead (21-13), but the Bears defense was up to the task.

HIghland (6-1) had five possessions in the second half. The first ended with a sack of quarterback Gage Dayley. The second was stopped by a Miles Lockhart interception of Dayley in the end zone as he won tight coverage over Highland's Ethan Svoboda. The third one in the fourth quarter was a three-and-out. Highland gambled on fourth down on its 11 with its fourth possession that ended in an incompletion. Basha ended up netting a 25-yard field goal from kicker Trevor Miller making it a two-score margin and the final count of 24-13. The fifth concluded with a field-goal attempt that was short in the final five seconds.

Dayley paced Highland offensively completing 12 of 22 passes for 119 yards and one touchdown - a 27-yard strike in the second quarter to Svboda. Williams Jr. threw mostly short, quick passes. He completed 15 of 22 for 200 yards and no picks. Two of his completions were for 35 and 37 yards. Buchanan rushed 16 times for 68 yards and two touchdowns.

Highland is on the road for its final three games, starting next week with 7-0 Hamilton, then 7-0 Chandler and finally 4-3 Casteel. Basha, leading the Central Region with a 2-0 mark, is on the road again to face Cesar Chavez next week and closes the season at home against Mountain View that may have region-title implications.