2 hours Ago By Blake Durham
HOWARD, S.D. — On homecoming night, Howard football’s goal was to play four complete quarters.
The Tigers did just that, behind a huge evening out of the backfield. ADVERTISEMENT The Class 9A top-ranked Tigers ran wild en route to a 36-6 victory over Hanson on Friday in a nine-man football matchup between Cornbelt Conference rivals, improving to 6-0 on the season. Howard totaled 275 rushing yards for the game, scoring all five touchdowns on the ground.
While the team’s streak of three consecutive shutouts came to an end with Hanson’s lone points coming in the third quarter, Tigers head coach Pat Ruml was proud of the team for overcoming a slow start following Howard’s bye week. “(Hanson) does a lot of things that give you troubles and some twists, so we had to work on that a little bit after the first,” Ruml said. “Being homecoming week can be good and bad with all the stuff that can go on, but I thought they did a great job.
” The teams each had chances to score in the opening minutes, but Howard’s first drive with the football after the defense forced a Hanson punt was quelled in the red zone for a turnover on downs. However, the Tigers were able to keep the Beavers in their own territory for another punt. In the second quarter, Tate Miller broke through for the first points of the game, scoring his first of two rushing touchdowns in the quarter.
Hanson drove the ball down the field by opening the pass attack. However, Esten Schlimgen’s pass on a fourth-down play in the red zone fell incomplete, as the Tigers’ defense held serve throughout the opening half of play. “We didn’t want to get beat deep,” Ruml said of the Tigers’ adjustments to Hanson’s passing game.
“We had our linebackers shoot out a little more to help out in the flat area, but we just didn’t want to give anything up over the top.” Miller found the back of the end zone twice in the second half, as Howard put up 14 points in the third quarter on his two-yard touchdown run, and Weston Remmers' 14-yard score on a reverse for the Tigers. Miller’s fourth touchdown came from five yards out in the fourth quarter, only building the confidence of the starting nine on both ends of the football.
ADVERTISEMENT “It’s nice to know when we’re calling a play or an audible, we don’t have to worry about anybody blocking,” quarterback Carson Hinker said. “Tate and Weston both know their plays well, so we can run it anyway and anywhere on the field.” Miller finished with 200 yards on 19 carries and four touchdowns and Remmers ran ten times for 75 yards and a touchdown.
Hinker was 6-of-11 for 45 yards and Luke Kopesell caught two passes for 21 yards receiving. Defensively, Calvin Halvorsen led the Tigers with nine tackles, as the defense forced three turnovers on downs for the game. Hanson (3-3) obtained its lone points of the game on a Stetson Riggs five-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to end Howard’s shutout streak.
Riggs finished with six carries for 67 yards. Esten Schlimgen was 9-of-22 for 91 yards and Sutton Dewald had four catches for 48 yards. The Beavers return home to play Viborg-Hurley on Friday, Oct.
11. Howard (6-0) will face off against Garretson in its home regular-season finale on Friday, Oct. 11 before a trip to face a strong Viborg-Hurley squad on Oct.
18. As the playoffs draw closer, the Tigers' goal is to continue to build on strong performances and stick to their gameplan. “We try to wear opponents down every game,” Hinker said.
“It’s what works for us and helps us try to win the game in the best way possible.”.
