Howells-Dodge wins at East Butler

The Howells-Dodge Jaguars won 18-6 at East Butler Friday night.

The Tigers led 6-0 after the first quarter, the Howells-Dodge scored 6 points in each of the next three quarters to earn the victory.

Dylan Horejsi rushed for 104 yards on 22 carries, and scored once. Dax VanLengen was 5-7 passing with 120 yards and a touchdown.

Jordan Brichacek caught a 54-yard touchdown pass.

Zach Bayer amassed 11 tackles while Brichacek had 10.

The Jaguars totaled 284 yards of offense while giving up 258.

Head Coach Mike Speirs says inexperienced players stepped up and led the team to the win. "It was a great win for us considering how inexperienced we are this season. We had a lot of kids make major contributions who had never been in a varsity football game."

Speirs adds reading the Tigers' offense was one thing his defense did well. "I think our kids did two things very well to help us out defensively. First, the kids did a great job of recognizing where they needed to be and what East Butler was trying to do offensively, and second, I thought they tackled really well."

Howells-Dodge (1-0 hosts Osmond (0-1) Friday night.

The Tigers lost 44-6 at home to defending D-2 State Champion Humphrey St. Francis this past Friday night.

Speirs says his team is going to have to play well offensively and defensively to be in the game. "Osmond will be another huge challenge for us. In order to compete with them we will once again need to be on our toes defensively and recognize what they are trying to do offensively. When we have the ball we need to execute our plays against their extremely aggressive defense."

It's really hard to get a read on the Tigers and where they're at so far this season, but the Jaguars certainly appear to be in good shape so far.

Speirs says his team has to keep getting better. "We have to continue to focus on all the little things that go along with the game of football. Each week is such a big experience for our kids who have not been in many varsity football games, and we need to continue to build off that experience."

Osmond will certainly be a formidable foe for Howells-Dodge, but given how the Jaguars played last week, one has to like their chances of winning again.

With that said, there has to be cautious optimism around this program. Howells-Dodge played great last week, but there's still a long ways to go, and this team has to remain focused just like they were last week.

This game against the Tigers is a chance for the Jaguars to shine, and take another step getting back to the form Howells-Dodge was before last year.

Howells-Dodge is certainly doing well so far, they simply have to keep it up.