Saturday, September 8, 2001
The Tigers rumbled for 293 yards on the ground in blanking the Bulldogs.
By CHAD KRISPINSKY
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
HOWLAND -- The Howland High football team mirrored Friday's hot, muggy conditions, doing some scorching of their own, routing Lakeview 28-0.
The Tigers scored three times in the second quarter, and never looked back as Lakeview (0-3) fell for the third time.
Howland (3-0) got on the board in the second quarter with the first of two Brian Spence touchdowns. Spence capped an 11-play 67-yard Tiger drive, putting Howland ahead 7-0.
Spence finished the game rushing for 82 yards on 13 carries, with two scores.
Rekking crew: Later in the second, Mark Rek was hit behind the line, only to bounce off three tacklers, and scamper 55 yards around the left end into the end zone to put his team up 14-0. He finished the night with a total of 105 yards on 17 carries.
"Our offensive and defensive lines really dominated and did a good job, and certainly Mark Rek's electrifying run really blew it open for us,"Howland coach Dick Angle said.
Rek deflected the attention of his solid night to the play of his teammates:
"I've got to give credit to my linemen. They're the reason I'm getting my yards," he said.
Balancing act: The Tigers managed a total of 293 yards on the ground, with three featured backs in Rek (105 yards), Spence (82) and Maurice Smith (78) getting into the act.
Spence added the final tally in the first half on a 10-yard scamper with 36 seconds left in the second quarter. Smith reached the end zone in the fourth to cap off the game's scoring, with a 4-yard run.
Angle likes the team's attitude so far this season.
"I think that's one of the nice things that has emerged from our football team. We're very unselfish. We can go to four different backs. We're very proud of our kids that they're being very unselfish," he added.
It wasn't Howland's offense only that shone Friday night. The defense was solid, allowing only one first down in the entire first half. Lakeview managed only 59 yards on the ground, led by senior Pete Brister, who notched 21 yards. Bulldog quarterback Kevin Rigby completed 5-of-11 passes on the night, for 57 yards.
"Our defense is quicker than people think, and that quickness allows us to do things that we've never been able to do here, and that's a tribute to our guys and what they've done in the off-season," added Angle.
Hot start: The perfect 3-0 record is nothing new to Howland. It reached a similar standing last season, but the Tigers are far from overconfident:
"We're not taking it lightly. We were 3-0 last season and then we didn't do too well. So, this year, we're going to try to make it 4-0 and then move on from there -- one game at a time," Rek said.