Howland off to best start since 2014 after win over Dukes
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HOWLAND -- Before the start of the season, Howland head coach Brian Jones had a feeling his team had a chance to make some noise.
After all, the Tigers were returning an experienced group of 15 seniors, a group that had been through all the trials and tribulations of three combined wins over the past three seasons.
Jones' preseason hopes have come to fruition this fall. With its 40-7 victory over Marlington on Friday night to improve to 5-1, Howland is off to its best start since 2014, when it won its first five games on the way to a 6-1 start.
"We knew this [senior] class had a good opportunity when they were freshmen if we could just keep them together," Jones said. "There's a lot of camaraderie there, a lot of kids that played a lot of snaps for us. So we knew if we could weather the storm a little bit, that we would have a chance to get this thing flipped.
"Right now, they're playing good football. To me, there's no bigger title in our program than senior, and we're going to ride that group until we can't anymore."
The Tigers dominated the first half against the Dukes, as Howland took a 27-0 lead at halftime.
The offense racked up over 200 yards en route to scoring four touchdowns, while despite giving up almost 150 yards, the defense recorded three takeaways and held Marlington scoreless.
"That was kind of the message. We wanted to start fast, take the ball and try to get on the board and force the opponent to play from behind," Jones said. "Sometimes that goes to plan, sometimes it doesn't. Tonight, we were able to execute early and get on the board. Guys executed well, but there's still a lot of things that we gotta clean up."
Howland opened the game with an 11-play drive that culminated with quarterback Darren Douglas hitting Carter Nielsen in the flat for a 5-yard touchdown on fourth down.
After a three-and-out by Marlington, the Tigers struck again on a 29-yard touchdown scamper from Douglas that made it 14-0.
Shortly thereafter, the Dukes' Cole Jones fumbled and Howland recovered. The Tigers capitalized on the takeaway as Nielsen hauled in his second receiving touchdown of the night from 33 yards out.
Nielsen made his presence felt on both sides of the ball, intercepting Marlington quarterback Tyler Walder on the next possession and returning it to the Dukes' 11-yard line. Douglas piled into the end zone from a yard out two plays later.
Anthony DeNiro added his own interception off Walder just before halftime for Howland's third takeaway of the half.
Marlington finally got on the board on its first drive of the second half, putting together a 14-play, 76-yard drive that ended with a 2-yard touchdown run by Cameron Evanich.
The rest of the third quarter proved to be a slog, as both teams racked up penalties amidst some heightened emotions. Howland and Marlington combined for 20 total penalties for more than 200 yards on the night.
"Not a lot of rhythm there, a lot of breaks in the action, and a lot of penalties," Jones said. "I was proud of our kids. We're just trying to play the next play, get back to the huddle and try not to get mixed up with all of that. But sometimes that's football. It's a heated game. There's a lot of emotion, and I think that was displayed tonight. But I'm proud of the way our kids handled it."
Douglas added his third touchdown pass of the night with about three minutes left in the third quarter, finding DeNiro for a 15-yard strike. DeNiro then finished out the scoring with a 5-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to put the finishing touches on the Tigers' victory.
"I think our offensive coordinator, Coach [Derrick] Bush has done a great job of making sure that we're balanced this year, and it comes down to having weapons," Jones said of the offense. "We have some weapons on the edge, and you have to tip your cap to the offensive line. They're doing a really good job when called upon in the run game. We've got a couple good backs in the backfield, and when you have players, that allows you to be multiple and get production out of the run game and the pass game."
Next up, Howland will look to continue its strong start with a trip to Alliance next week.