​Gilbert Higley entered its game on Friday, Oct. 30, firing on all cylinders on both sides of the ball. In its last five games leading up to its date against rival Gilbert Williams Field, the Knights scored 246 points and held opponents to six points or less three times.Higley (8-1) knew it was going to need to need that type of complete effort against its crosstown rival in order to get the victory and beef up its Open Division playoff resume.Higley’s offense set the table Friday with a pair of touchdowns in the opening quarter. Then, in the second half, the defense took over with two key takeaways en route to a 46-21 win at Williams Field (5-4) in 6A Central Region action. The game was marked by a lengthy second-half weather delay with lightning in the Gilbert area.The Knights entered the game ranked No. 15 in the AIA/MaxPreps 6A rankings. Williams Field was No. 10. The top 12 teams in 6A at the end of the regular season, which concludes Nov. 6 for the conference, will be placed in the top-level Open playoff bracket.Key playsHigley went into halftime with a 26-7 lead and a bundle of momentum. Williams Field started the second half with the ball, which led to a rushing touchdown by junior running back Christian Davis. That cut the Higley lead to 26-14 and appeared to give the Black Hawks some momentum. Immediately after Davis’ touchdown though, both teams were forced back into their locker rooms for nearly an hour because of a weather delay. The delay appeared to sap some of the energy from Williams Field as Higley got the ball back and added to its lead again as quarterback Anthony Palka connected with senior wide receiver Jordyn Harris on a 39-yard touchdown strike to make it a 32-14 contest. Key playersPalka was the catalyst for Higley’s offense. He started the scoring on the first drive of the game with a short run into the end zone. Late in the second quarter, the senior quarterback had a 66-yard touchdown run that gave the Knights their 26-7 halftime lead. Then Palka’s 39-yard touchdown pass came with 5:26 left in the third quarter.Palka ended the night completing 15-of-20 pass attempts for 226 yards and another 136 rushing yards on 11 attempts. Higley senior Antonio Young, who entered the game leading the 6A Central Region with 13 touchdowns, added two more, including a 45-yard run with 8:37 left in the contest to seal the win.Quotes“I think we can be good because we’re multi-dimensional. We can run the ball, we can throw the ball. We’ve got great players at the receiver position and we’ve got an outstanding quarterback. He can run it, he can throw it. Our offensive line is really good, our running backs are good. So, we really feel good about our guys, we’ve just got to continue to get out there and compete and continue to sharpen our sword.” – Higley Head Coach Eddy Zubey on his team’s offense“We were definitely trying to keep it as normal as possible. There was so much going on – the weather, the rain, the t