Tigers hit their stride

against unbeaten Eagles

By MIKE MCLAIN

sports@vindy.com

HOWLAND

According to the new math used by the Howland Tigers, their record this season is 3-0.

Losses to Erie McDowell (Pa.) and Green to open the season will still be fed into the computer program that ranks Ohio’s football teams, but the Tigers like to think their season began in week three with a win over Ashtabula Lakeside.

That was followed by a victory over nemesis Poland and an impressive performance Friday in a 20-0 win over the Hubbard Eagles in an All American Conference game at Lombardo Field.

“Like coach preaches, we lost our first two games and now (before last night’s win) we’re 2-2,” senior offensive standout Victor Williams said. “Every week we have to get better and better and work harder and harder. Every game matters now. Our playoffs started when we lost the first two games.”

Williams, who can line up and contribute from any spot among the offensive skilled positions, showcased his skills with a 68-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter to seal the win for the 3-2 Tigers. He had an 82-yard return of a punt that would have been a touchdown negated by a roughing the punter penalty.

Williams also had two big defensive plays from his outside linebacker spot on a late drive by the Eagles, who trailed 13-0 at the time. He cornered quarterback Davion Daniels on a run to the left side, dropping Daniels for a loss of 2 yards and forcing a fourth-and-7 at the Tigers’ 11. On the next play Williams played a perfect center field in deep zone coverage and intercepted a high pass by quarterback Shannon Slovesko in the end zone.

Williams wasn’t the lone offensive star for Howland. Quarterback Samari Dean threw for 103 yards, including touchdown passes of 44 yards to Tyriq Ellis and 33 yards to Stephen Baugh. Ellis rushed for 102 yards on 17 carries.

It added up to a second big conference win for the improving Tigers, who jumped to third in the Division III, Region 9 computer standings. The Eagles, who were third in the Division IV, Region 13 standings, lost for the first time after winning four straight.

“The first part of the schedule was a brutal schedule,” Tigers coach Dominic Menendez said. “Erie is a heck of a team. Green is a good football team. We weren’t clicking like we are now, but I’ll take it. We’re getting better every week.”

The Eagles weren’t able to break any big plays offensively, but they managed to get into scoring territory four times. They were stopped on downs at the Howland 37 on their first possession. Kicker Colin Burdette had a 31-yard field goal attempt blocked by Shawn Carr in the second quarter, and later in the period Burdette was wide left on a 40-yard attempt. Hubbard’s final possession ended with the interception by Williams.

“Kudos to them,” Eagles coach Brian Hoffman said. “They have some talented kids on that team, and they played hard. We didn’t help ourselves, but that’s no excuse. We had opportunities in the red zone, but we didn’t capitalize.”

The Tigers struck early when Ellis took a swing pass from Dean on the third play from scrimmage and ran 44 yards for a score at the 10:50 mark of the opening quarter. The point-after kick by Luke Brancaccio was off mark.

It appeared the score would be 6-0 at halftime following the miss by Burdette, but Menendez strategically inserted Williams at quarterback with 1:24 remaining in the second quarter. The Tigers moved from their 20 to the Eagles’ 33, largely on the runs of Ellis and one by Williams. Menendez then re-inserted Dean, who threw to an open Baugh in the end zone as time expired.

“That was an important play,” said Williams, who rushed for 101 yards. “The momentum shifted. We called a great play. We were running the ball down the field, and when we got into scoring position, we were going to take a chance. It worked out for us.”