By BRANDON JUDEH

sports@vindy.com

HOWLAND

It’s no secret that the Howland Tigers and Warren Harding Raiders despise one another.

And it was more evident than ever in Harding’s 34-0 rout on Friday night at Richard Lombardo Stadium. The Raiders had lost to the Tigers each of the last two seasons — 25-22 in 2010 and 16-15 last season — since the rivalry was resurrected.

The loss ended Howland’s 23-game, regular-season winning streak.

The tone for the night was set just three plays in when Tigers star running back and Michigan recruit De’Veon Smith went down with a shoulder injury.

It was a huge blow for Howland and a major break for Harding.

Despite the big loss on offense, Howland’s defense came up big early on, pinning the Raiders (1-1) inside their own 10-yard line on consecutive series.

But the Tigers (1-1) were unable to capitalize on great field position and the Raiders took advantage of their first possession inside Howland territory.

Momentum changed drastically after Aaron Qualls intercepted an Eric Lockney pass to put the Raiders on the Howland 37-yard line.

“We knew we had to come out and do our job, once the interception came we knew we had control of the game,” Qualls said. “After that we just knew we had to keep the momentum.”

And indeed they did, as three plays later Ben Stefek plowed through two defenders on his way to a 26-yard touchdown rumble to draw first blood with 9:42 left in the first half.

With less than one minute remaining in the half and facing a fourth-and 6 play on the Howland 11, Lamar Carmichael stepped his game up by connecting with Lamar Freeman for a huge first down.

John Coleman punched it in two plays later to give Harding a commanding 14-0 halftime lead.

“We didn’t just lose Smith, we lost 10 guys,” Howland coach Dick Angle said. “We came in with a couple injuries and came out with more. You can’t play without 10 starters against a quality team like Harding, but I’m proud of how hard our kids played.”

Smith gave it a go on the first play of the second half, but after being hit he slowly walked off the field for good. Smith finished with three carries for a yard.

Without Smith and starting receiver Brendan Cope, went down with ankle injury, the Tigers managed just 96 yards of offense.

“I think we beat them up physically. It was a physical football game up front, especially on the line, we just wore them down,” said first-year Harding coach Steve Arnold.

Harding (1-1) pulled away in the third quarter on a 3-yard touchdown run by Coleman and a Carmichael-to-Qualls touchdown pass to push the lead to 27-0.

The Raiders’ final score came in the fourth quarter on a bulldozer-like 17-yard run by Lyndal Kimble.

Coleman rushed for 22 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Howland’s Jaquore Marrs had 53 yards on 14 carries in place of Smith.