Lakeview slips past Howland, 17-16

The Bulldogs pulled off the two-point conversion to post the win.
By DOUG CHAPIN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
HOWLAND -- Lakeview High coach Tom Pavlansky didn't hesitate when deciding whether or not to go for a two-point conversion with his team trailing 17-16 to Howland and just 5:07 remaining in the game. His decision turned out to be the right one after sophomore quarterback Justin Clark found Rylan Hardman in the back of the end zone and Lakeview (1-1) went on to defeat the Tigers, 18-17, Thursday night.
"There was no question we were going for two. We came here to win," Pavlansky said. "We practice and practice that play, but with the injuries we've had we called timeout to make sure we knew what we were doing on the play."
Key touchdown
The conversion came after Clark scored from 11 yards out on an option play on fourth-and-1. The touchdown finished off a 13-play, seven-minute drive which included two other big plays. Clark connected with Zach Repphun for 24 yards for a key first down early in the drive and Jon Biehl ran for a first down on a fake punt.
"One kid after another stepped up and raised their level of play for us. I can't say enough about our kids," said Pavlansky, whose team was missing six starters because of injury.
Michael Braunegg turned in consecutive big plays late in the third quarter to get Lakeview turned around. His interception gave the Bulldogs the ball on their 44, then on the next play he caught Clark's pass near the sideline about 15 yards downfield, bounced off a Howland tackler and raced the rest of the way for a score, cutting the Howland lead to 17-10.
Tigers had control
The Tigers (1-1) had dominated to that point, led by sophomore running back Dante Marsh who carried 17 times in the first half for 150 yards, including a 47-yard touchdown run with 7:58 left in the first half.
Howland increased its advantage to 17-3 at the 6:15 mark of period three when quarterback Matt Preston hooked up with Nathaniel Salter on a fourth-and-9 streak from 36 yards out. After Mike Cook recovered a Lakeview fumble on the ensuing possession, things looked good for the Tigers until Braunegg made his big plays.
Howland ended up with 185 yards rushing and 44 passing. Lakeview was held to 59 yards on the ground on 33 attempts. The Bulldogs passed for 89 yards.
Williams injured
Lakeview senior running back Justin Williams suffered a knee injury in the second quarter and was attended to on the field by medical personnel for about 40 minutes before leaving in an ambulance. Pavlansky said the prognosis is good but "we played with heavy hearts the rest of the game."
"Our prayers are with the young man who hurt his knee, we hope he recovers," Angle said.