Howland vs Harding

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Photos by William Lewis

By MIKE McLAIN

sports@vindy.com

WARREN

Warren Harding Raiders quarterback Lynn Bowden rushed for 270 yards and scored six touchdowns Friday in a 40-20 win over the Howland Tigers at Mollenkopf Stadium.

What may have been equally as impressive was the way the talented senior conducted himself in a post-game interview. Instead of taking full credit for a 14-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that can only be called spectacular, Bowden credited his teammates.

Nice try, Lynn. Bowden might have had plenty of help from the offensive line most of the game, but the 14-yard score was all on him.

If touchdown runs in the history of Mollenkopf were ranked, Bowden’s 14-yarder that extended the Raiders’ lead to 33-14 after Dominic Vanwinkle’s point-after kick has to be among the best. He escaped a tackle in the backfield and then seemed to weave his way through every defender before scoring standing up.

“He did about 90 percent of it right there,’ Raiders coach Steve Arnold said. “Remarkable run. Remarkable talent.”

The touchdown came during a stretch in the second half when the Tigers were on the verge of providing the Raiders with some nervous moments. Howland, trailing 20-14 in the third quarter, moved to the Harding 25. On third-and-7 quarterback Samari Dean threw a deep pass that was intercepted at the goal line by Marlin Richardson, who returned it 53 yards to the Tigers’ 47.

Six plays later Bowden scored his fourth touchdown on a 13-yard run as Harding extended the lead to 26-14. After forcing a three-and-out on Howland’s next possession, Harding was back in scoring position when Eli Watson dropped punter Jon Elliot at the Tigers’ 11.

Bowden performed his magic trick on a third-and-13.

The outcome was no longer in doubt.

“We came out real slow,” Bowden said. “In the second half we picked it up. I told my teammates throughout the week that the better team is going to win. Tonight we were the better team.”

Harding ends the regular season with a 9-1 record, securing homefield advantage against Copley in the first round of the Division II, Region 5 playoffs. Howland (7-3) clinched a road playoff spot in Division III, Region 9.

The Tigers had a seven-game winning streak snapped in a gutsy performance. Dean, a transfer from Harding, had one of his better games, passing for 111 yards and one touchdown and rushing for 63 yards and two touchdowns.

“He may have gotten caught up a little bit being a Warren guy and trying to do too much at times, but he played hard and protected the football and played well,” Tigers coach Dominic Menendez said.

The Bowden show took off on the sixth play of the game when he slithered through defenders on a 51-yard touchdown run as Harding took a 7-0 lead. It was the start of a memorable night as the Raiders, wearing the red and white uniforms of the Harding Panthers on throwback night, won for the first time in the uniforms since Arnold’s first season as coach in 2012.

“We had to break the curse,” Bowden said. “Our most important thing was to get this ‘W’ for coach Arnold.”

The Tigers tied the score at 7 on a 1-yard run by Dean and an extra point by Luke Brancaccio midway through the second quarter. Bowden then ran 13 yards for a score as the Raiders took a 14-7 halftime lead.

Howland marched 67 yards on nine plays to tie the score at 14-14 on a 17-yard Dean run to open the third period. The Raiders answered quickly when Bowden scored on an 18-yard run, but the conversion pass failed as the Raiders’ lead held at 20-14.

Bowden added a 10-yard TD run late in the game. Dean threw an 18-yard scoring pass to Keith Rounds for Howland’s final points.

“We were composed at halftime,” Arnold said. “We said it was some things we didn’t do ... the [Bowden] fumble and not sustaining some blocks. We said relax and play our game.

“I give Howland a lot of credit. They played tough and with a lot of tenacity.”