METRO ATHLETIC CONFERENCE Howland routs Salem, takes sole possession of first place

The Tigers led 32-6 at halftime.
By ERIC HAMILTON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
SALEM -- On paper, Friday's Howland-Salem high school football game looked to be a good one.
On the field, it wasn't even close.
The Tigers dominated the Quakers in every facet of the game, scoring on offense, defense and special teams, en route to a 46-20 victory in a battle between the Metro Athletic Conference front-runners.
With the win, Howland (5-1) moves into sole possession of first with a 3-0 record. Salem (3-3) falls to 2-1 in the league.
"We accomplished the things we wanted to tonight," Howland coach Dick Angle said. "We wanted to dominate the first half, get out of here injury-free, get some younger kids in the game and win the ball game. We were able to do all those things."
Scoring
To say Howland dominated the first half would be an understatement. The Tigers scored all four times the offense touched the ball and added a defensive touchdown.
Running back Tony Davis lit up the scoreboard for three touchdowns in the first half and finished the contest with 104 yards on 13 carries. He also returned a kickoff 82 yards to set up a Howland score.
"We did not want the ball in the hands of No. 11 [Davis]," Salem coach Doug Phillips said. "We knew he could make plays and he did tonight. We knew Howland would be ready to play tonight. They have accomplished a lot of things, but they want that MAC title."
The Tigers certainly looked like a championship team, using their size and blistering speed to jump on Salem early. Howland ran just 15 plays in the opening half and scored on five of them, including three touchdowns and a pair of Cody Chappell field goals.
Salem scored first
However, it was Salem that got on the board first on the game's opening drive.
The Quakers used a 12-play drive to go ahead 3-0 on Brian Schwartz's 32-yard field goal. Schwartz later connected from 40 yards out.
But when you're playing against an offense as explosive as Howland's, field goals are not good enough, and Phillips knew that going in.
"We knew if we got into the red zone that we had to get six points and not settle for field goals," Phillips said. "We felt we could move the ball, but we needed to get into the end zone."
The Tigers had no problems finding the goal line.
Tigers take over
Davis put Howland ahead for good on his squad's first possession.
After returning the kickoff to inside the Salem 5 yard line, Davis scored two plays later from 4 yards out. That was just the beginning.
Howland's defense got into the act when Mike Zambelli returned a Landon Heath interception 52 yards for a touchdown. It was Heath's first pick of the season.
A 36-yard field goal from Chappell gave the Tigers a 17-3 lead after one quarter.
Davis added his second and third TDs of the night in the second stanza, giving the Tigers plenty of breathing room with a 32-6 lead at intermission.
Fumble return
The Quakers cut Howland's lead to 32-12 when Lance Buckley returned a Tiger fumble 21 yards to the end zone.
After another Howland score, the Quakers scored again, this time on a pass from Heath to Jarin Heath.
Landon Heath connected with Schwartz on the two-point conversion to make it 39-20 early in the fourth quarter.
But the Tigers' second-stringers put the contest away as Rob Wyand sprinted 7 yards for the final score.
Despite the solid performance, Angle pointed out that there is still plenty of room for improvement in the next four weeks.
"We're a good football team, but not a great team yet," Angle said. "To be a great team you can't have the mental breakdowns we had in the second half."