By MARC WEEMS

sports@vindy.com

HOWLAND

It was all about the run for the Howland Tigers in a season opener Friday night at Richard Lombardo Stadium.

Howland rushed for more than 300 yards in a 23-19 victory the Lakeview Bulldogs.

“They meant to load the outside and the middle was open. We saw that, the coaches saw that and we took advantage of that,” Howland running back Jackson Deemer said.

A drive that started at Howland’s 20-yard line ended in a quick touchdown drive. Other than an 18-yard pass from Howland quarterback Samari Dean to Jon Elliott, running was the name of the game. Five plays later, Dean scored from 23 yards out to give Howland a 7-0 lead with 7:44 left in the first quarter.

Lakeview was stifled in the first quarter as it completed just two passes for 32 yards by quarterback Zach Rogers. After a few punts, Lakeview found itself pinned deep.

With 4:51 left in the second quarter, Lakeview tried to punt, but the snap sailed over the punter’s head for a safety to put Howland up 9-0.

After Howland got the ball back after the safety, the Tigers stayed on the ground again and the result was a 4-yard touchdown run by Keyshawn Busch to make 16-0 with 2:17 left in the first half.

“That was the game plan and that’s what we hang our hats on,” Howland head coach Dominic Menendez said. “We aren’t an offense that is built to come from behind. We knew that we had to control the ball and be physical. It’s never easy around here.”

Lakeview responded quickly. Just 48 seconds later, Rogers connected with wide receiver Noah Olejnik on a 55-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 16-6. Lakeview failed on a 2-point conversion and the scored stayed 16-6 at the half.

Deemer rushed for 90 yards on 13 attempts. Dean had one rushing score.

Lakeview continued the passing attack as its first play was a 45-yard pass from Rogers to Evan Adair. That helped set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Tony Crish that cut Howland’s lead to 16-13.

“Our protection struggled a little bit, I’m not going to deny that,” Lakeview head coach Tom Pavlansky said. “Our guys battled. Zach is a talented kid and we have some weapons on the outside that were tough to defend. Howland is really good. Credit to coach Menendez and his staff but we have to keep working.”

After Lakeview scored again, Howland answered with 7-yard touchdown run by Deemer to put Howland up 23-13 with 4:42 left in the third quarter.

“Deemer had a great offseason and he continues to work,” Dean said. “He can tote the rock. He’s a mean runner with the ball.”

Dean also said that without its defensive front seven, Howland may not have won the game. Lakeview ran the ball 19 times for just 39 yards.

“Our front guys are our strength on both sides of the ball,” Menendez said. “We ran through the ball and tackled well. We are young in the back end and we will have to grow up quick. It could be the thorn in our side.”