The Howland High School football team will be the first Trumbull County school selected to participate in the Kirk Herbstreit Challenge, which pairs some of the best high school football teams from Ohio against some of the nation’s top schools.
The announcement came this weekend when the pairings for the 2008 Herbstreit Challenge were listed in USA Today. Howland plays Woodland Hills (Pa.) at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 30 at Canton’s Fawcett Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
Howland is coming off an undefeated regular season and its fourth playoff appearance in the last seven years. Tiger coach Dick Angle said being asked to enter the challenge demonstrates the improvement in the Howland program.
‘‘Ten years ago they wouldn’t have invited us to come clean the stadium,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s a pretty nice honor to be the first Trumbull County school to be a part of it. I certainly hope we represent Trumbull County the way it should be. I’m sure other (Trumbull) schools will be a part of it in the future, and I hope we can pave the way for them.’’
The Herbstreit Challenge, now in its fourth year, was put together by former Ohio State quarterback and current ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit and his father, Jim Herbstreit. The event picks a number of elite schools from around the nation to face off against some of Ohio’s top teams.
Cardinal Mooney, which beat Gateway (Pa.) in last year’s Herbstreit Challenge, was selected for the third game at Fawcett Stadium against Covington Catholic (Ky.). The Cardinals’ game starts at 5 p.m. and also will be televised. The other two games scheduled at Fawcett Stadium are Canton McKinley versus Cathedral (Indianapolis) at 2 p.m., and Massillon versus Jordan (Utah) at 8 p.m.
Angle said the Tigers will have their hands full with Woodland Hills, which was state runner-up in 2001 and 2002 and are annually one of the top teams in a very competitive Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League. The Wolverines have sent numerous players to NCAA, Division I schools and the NFL, including Miami Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor and Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Steve Breaston.
‘‘Woodland Hills has been a very successful program for many years,’’ he said. ‘‘Coach (George) Novak has been there for a long time and he does a great job. It’s a blessing to be part of it, but it’s going to be a great challenge for us.’’
The opportunity arose for Howland when Cleveland East, it’s initial Week 2 opponent, realized it overscheduled for the upcoming season. Angle said Howland let Cleveland East out of the contract, and ‘‘the Herbstreit people saw our name out there, and they called us and asked if we wanted to get involved in it.’’
Angle said it was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
‘‘It’s tough giving up a home game, but they gave us a nice financial package to do it,’’ he said. ‘‘And it’s against a great quality opponent early in the year, and that gives us a chance to gauge our team early in the year.’’
Tickets are $10 for students and $14 for adults and will be for all four games. Angle said he expects tickets to be available early in the summer
jsimon@tribune-chronicle.com
