Staff file photo / R. Michael Semple Howland’s Davae Honzu carries the ball and breaks through Niles defenders during the Tigers’ opener against the Red Dragons last season.

HOWLAND — The Howland Tigers’ record in 2024 left a lot to be desired, but head coach Brian Jones believes the intangibles he saw last year will come through in the upcoming season and translate accordingly.

Jones said the progress his team has made in the offseason is exciting. When he took over the program two years ago, he and his coaching staff knew it would take some time to build a culture in which the team buys in and the behind-the-scenes effort across the board comes to fruition.

“I’m excited for the progress that we’ve made. Obviously the record wasn’t as indicative of what you would call a successful season, but we knew that coming in two years ago that it was going to take a couple of years to get the culture that we want built in and build from the ground up. It’s still very much a work in progress, but we feel that those things behind the scenes, such as our off-season workouts and our commitment to our process, are encouraging,” Jones said.

Heading into the new campaign, the Tigers boast only six seniors out of 47 players on the team. Jones said he expects to have to rely on a number of his players and spoke highly of his sophomore and junior classes, but believes the experience of the seniors at various positions will use their experience on the field to lead the team.

“The juniors and sophomores are going to have to grow fast on Friday night and we’re still going to ask a lot of our seniors,” Jones said. “But the good thing about (the seniors) is that a lot of them had to play a lot of snaps since their sophomore year, so they do bring a lot of experience with them.”

In terms of leadership on the field or in the locker room, Jones believes anyone can step up and fill that role and it starts with the seniors.

Jones’ philosophy is such that there is no better title than a senior on the football team. There’s a weight carried behind that title regarding leadership for the underclassmen and how they perform.

“No title is bigger than ‘senior,'” Jones said. “You’re going to lean on them throughout the year and our guys do a great job of teaching the younger guys about how to lead. In a team meeting, we told them that just because you are a junior or sophomore, that doesn’t mean that you can’t be a leader.”

OFFENSE

When speaking about the offense, Jones made sure to note the impact that senior leadership will have on Friday nights, starting with Davae Honzu in the backfield.

The running game, however, may be stymied at first due to a relatively young offensive line. Jones explained he has to replace nearly his entire offensive line from a season ago, and the position battles rage on as the season approaches.

“We have to replace four or five up front, so that’s going to take time at camp to figure out how those spots are going to be filled. We have a good group of about eight kids that are going to compete for those spots,” he said.

Leading that group up front will be two-year letterwinner Brandon Cain. Jones touted the junior’s experience and called him the anchor of the offensive line. In the mix for the remaining slots are Kyle Breast, Brady Kroll, Gavin Swogger, Anthony Hayes, Jacob Platt, Brady Morrone and Brady Arblaster — all of whom Jones said have been performing well and could step in and help Howland in every game.

As for the quarterback position, Jones said he and his staff are still trying to find the everyday starter between Darren Douglas, Cohen Yeager and Isaiah Cluckey. Douglas, however, has an advantage as he’s been around the program longer, knows the system and understands the expectations, but it is still very much anyone’s position.

“The truth is they’re probably all going to have to play at some point. We really like that group,” Jones said. “(Douglas) has been around our program and had a nice summer camp. We have a lot of faith in (Yeager) and (Cluckey), so we’ll see how things play out. I think all three of those kids are going to see time behind center at some point this year and we’re going to need all three.”

Adding to the arsenal of offensive weapons are the receivers Josh Jarvis, Carter Nielsen, Cole Manners and team newcomer Anthony DeNiro. This receiving group, Jones believes, is the best he’s seen since he took over two years ago.

“We want to use those guys in space and we don’t feel we have the personnel to just line up and run the ball right at you. We’re definitely going to run the ball, but we’re going to try spacing out a bit more and use our athletes in space. You’ll see the ball get spread around a little bit more this year,” Jones said. “We’re excited about that. We’re going to ask a lot of our quarterbacks and hopefully each week we’re going to get a little bit better at that.”

When speaking on Jarvis and Nielsen, Jones said the duo provided a lot of the offensive production a season ago and is dependent upon them to continue to lead that production. Also anticipated to see playing time are Jason Irons, Frankie Hoso and a handful of freshmen Jones believes could contribute.

DEFENSE

On the defensive side of things, Jones said he wants his guys to read, react, get to the ball and get the opposing offenses on the ground. He also wants to see his team do their job and win the money downs.

“We can’t make it too difficult for ourselves on defense,” Jones said. “Our players will make plans, but the biggest thing is for them to do their job — get guys on the ground, get to third down and win the money down and get off the field. We don’t want to make it overly complicated.”

Hoso will be who the defense runs through as a defensive back. Jones is counting on him to be the leader on the defensive side of things.

“He’s kind of a hybrid guy. He’s a kid we can drop back to safety and someone we will have playing in the box, so he’s going to be up to that second level and a lot of things will run through him,” Jones said.

In the trenches for Howland, Jones is expecting big things from Anthony Hayes, as he’s been a part of the system and understands what is needed from him. Most of the players in the mix on the offensive line will also likely be in contention on the opposite side of the field. Jones and his staff have identified Swogger, Cain, Kroll and a few others to fill those roles.

“The biggest thing that has really hurt us in the last two years is being able to stop the run,” Jones said. “We have to limit the long runs and explosive plays, but we hope those guys mature over fall camp and we think we’ll be OK.”

The linebacker group for Howland this season will feature Nate Belton who saw increased playing time last season out of necessity and was “baptized by fire” according to Jones and handled the position well. He that added sophomore Blake Culver will have an impact as well as Andrew Taylor and freshman Delmar Cox.

“There’s a lot of different guys that we like in our linebacker level and we’re just finding the right four guys and making sure we’re playing complementary football,” Jones said.

Complimenting Hoso in the defensive backfield will be Nielsen. Jones highlighted his ability as a ball-hawk and tackler. Lending a hand will also be a combination of Cluckey, Jarvis, DeNiro and Douglas.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Coming into his final season, placekicker Jack Litton has been given a tremendous amount of trust from Jones. From year to year, Jones has been impressed by his progression in terms of strength and said his kicker has more power and matured into his body.

“The ball looks pretty good coming off his foot and he has a little more power than it had last year,” Jones said. “He’s driving the ball with his kickoff also, so we have a whole lot of confidence in (Litton). We’re excited to have him back.”

Part of that confidence will reveal itself on Friday nights. Jones said that he entrusts Litton to be able to get points on the board should the offense fall short of its goal and thinks Litton will be a huge advantage.

“Different situations dictate different decisions, but we view (Litton) as an asset and if we can get three, we’re going to take three. That’s a weapon to me because some of the other teams we play don’t have that type of kicking game,” Jones said.

Responsible for return duties will be Jarvis, but Jones said he has many that can take a kick or a punt and get the team in decent field position, such as Nielsen and DeNiro, among others.

Howland will open the 2025 season against Niles on Aug. 21 at home.