Howells-Dodge handles Homer

The Howells-Dodge Jaguars won 38-8 at Homer Friday night.

Howells-Dodge led 24-0 after the first quarter and shutout the Knights 14-0 in the second quarter to lead 38-0 at halftime.

Neither team scored in the third quarter. Homer added their only points of the game in the fourth quarter.

Dylan Horejsi had 104 yards rushing on 15 carries, including a score. Jordan Brichacek totaled 61 yards rushing on 5 carries, and scored once.

Dax VanLengen was 4-6 passing for 98 yards with two touchdowns.

Brichacek hauled in the two touchdown passes, which totaled 69 yards.

Ryan Macholan made 13 tackles while Marcus Love and Jon Yosten totaled 11 and 10, respectively. Zach Bayer added 8 while Tanner Coufal and Kade Hegemann notched 7 apiece.

The Jaguars racked up 263 yards of total offense, 169 coming on the ground.

The defense gave up 205 yards of total offense, including 174 rushing.

Here is the scoring summary:

Howells-Dodge 09:24 #4 Dax VanLengen pass complete to #23 Jordon Brichacek for 43 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #4 Dax VanLengen good)

Howells-Dodge 07:29 #28 Dylan Horejsi runs for 5 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #23 Jordon Brichacek good)

Howells-Dodge 06:05 #4 Dax VanLengen pass complete to #23 Jordon Brichacek for 26 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #28 Dylan Horejsi good)

Second Quarter
Howells-Dodge 10:38 #4 Dax VanLengen runs for 1 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #4 Dax VanLengen good)

Howells-Dodge 05:42 #23 Jordon Brichacek runs for 17 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #28 Dylan Horejsi no good)

Fourth Quarter
Homer Community 01:31 #7 Austin Pies runs for 5 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion pass by #9 Wyatt Tighe to #2 Tim Chamberlain good)

I thought Howells-Dodge played pretty well. The Jaguars did what they had to do, which was put the Knights away early.

Howells-Dodge (5-2) host Clarkson/Leigh (3-4) in the regular season finale Friday night.

The Patriots lost 58-14 at home to Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family last time out.

Clarkson/Leigh has really struggled lately as Bradley Bunner has been banged up so I think how close this game is depends on his health.

If Bunner is 100% then I think the Patriots can challenge the Jaguars, but if he's not out there or is limited, then the Jaguars should be able to win rather handily.

Horejsi and VanLengen need to have performances similar to what they had against Homer, and Brichacek needs to continue to step up as well.

Howells-Dodge has played really good football down the stretch, and proven to be a really good team.

A 6-2 regular season would be pretty respectable for this team, and it would pretty much guarantee the Jaguars a first round playoff game at home.

If Howells-Dodge loses to Clarkson/Leigh then their seeding won't be quite as good so the Jaguars really don't want to slip up against the Patriots.

This is a rivalry game, and I expect Clarkson/Leigh to bring it, but Bunner's being banged up recently makes for a real interesting game from the Patriots' standpoint.

Both of these teams are fairly young and will likely have more battles against one another in the future so getting this one is big for whoever wins.

Both teams are already pretty much in the playoffs, and I don't know if it's fair to say Howells-Dodge has more to lose than Clarkson/Leigh has to gain, but that could be the case.

Either way it's a rivalry game and I expect both teams to come out and put forth their best effort.

I'm sure the Jaguars would love to win big to gain a large amount of confidence and momentum heading into the postseason.

Howells-Dodge is on a three-game winning streak, and ending the regular season on a four-game winning streak would be a real positive for the Jaguars.

Howells-Dodge has been consistent all year long while the Patriots have been up and down so I would say the Jaguars have the better chance to win, but again anything can happen with it being a rivalry game.