43
Lightning strikes for Howland
Howland vs. Warren Harding
Gallery
By Joe Scalzo
Warren
In the midst of an 80-minute lightning delay, when Warren Harding had the momentum and the Raider fans were crowing about their lead, Howland High football coach Dick Angle turned to his junior running back, De’Veon Smith, and said, “This one’s on you.”
“I learned a long time ago from [former Yankees manager] Casey Stengel, when you’ve got to go with your banty rooster, you go with your banty rooster,” said Angle. “He went with [pitcher] Whitey Ford. We went with No. 4.
“He knew he was getting the ball until we got in the end zone.”
Smith got the ball over the next eight plays, bulling into the heart of the Raider defense — and surviving a fumble near the goal line — to score the game-winning touchdown and lift Howland to a 16-15 win Friday night at Mollenkopf Stadium.
“They told me they were going to give me the ball every play,” said Smith. “I was kind of nervous because I didn’t want to let the team down.”
He almost did.
Trailing 15-9, Howland faced a third-and-10 at the Warren Harding 49 with just over six minutes left in the fourth quarter when lightning struck several miles away. Both teams left the field and the automatic 30-minute delay turned into an hour, 17 minute delay.
“All we told our kids was we had to muster six minutes of energy,” Angle said. “Energy is the ‘E’ in our ‘P.U.L.S.E.’
“They gathered more than six minutes, I know that.”
After gaining 38 yards in the first six plays to set up a first down at the Harding 12, Smith broke over the left side of the defense and appeared to be headed for a touchdown when he was stripped from behind.
Harding defender Jai-lyn Moore appeared to grab the ball near the 2 yard line, but Smith emerged with the ball at the bottom of the pile.
When asked about it afterward, Angle couldn’t even keep a straight race when he said, “Ah, we had the ball. I saw our guy jump on it. It was our ball all the way, no question.”
Smith didn’t even try to lie.
“I snatched it,” he said. “I almost started crying [when he fumbled] right then and there but then I had to snatch the ball back.
“I couldn’t believe I got it.”
A nice kick return gave Harding the ball back at its own 40 with more than two minutes left. But the drive stalled after one first down at the Howland 45. The Raiders had one good shot to score when wide receiver MikQuan Dorsey got two steps behind the defense near the Howland 20. But Jimmy Rumple’s pass appeared to bounce off Dorsey’s facemask and fall incomplete.
Smith finished with 245 yards on 13 carries, including a 78-yard touchdown, as he went over 200 yards against Harding for the second straight year.
QB Brendan Cope added 52 yards rushing for the Tigers (3-0) before leaving the game in the fourth quarter with what looked like a serious shoulder injury. Zac Wilson replaced him and was able to finish the game out without missing a beat.
“This is the way we have to win this game,” said Angle, whose team won its second straight over the Raiders. “We’re never going to come in and dominate them. They’re too talented.
“This was a great win, maybe one of the best in my lifetime.”
Subscribe Today
Sign up for our email newsletter to receive daily news.
Want more? Click here to subscribe to either the Print or Digital Editions.
AP News