Howells-Dodge knocks off Clarkson/Leigh in season opener

The Howells-Dodge Football Team defeated Clarkson/Leigh 34-16 on the road Friday night.

Here is a scoring recap from the game:

First Quarter

Howells-Dodge 04:52 #10 Darrin Pokorny pass complete to #1 Luke Rocheford for 54 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #28 Dylan Horejsi no good)

Second Quarter

Howells-Dodge 07:41 #28 Dylan Horejsi runs for 68 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #3 Josh Breser no good)
Howells-Dodge 04:02 #10 Darrin Pokorny pass complete to #3 Josh Breser for 36 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion pass by #10 Darrin Pokorny to #25 Kade Hegemann good)

Third Quarter

Clarkson-Leigh High School 09:35 #6 Lance Paprocki pass complete to #2 Travis Stanley for 27 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #34 Tommy McEvoy good)
Howells-Dodge 09:20 Kickoff by #62 Cort Pokorney to the 30 yard line. #1 Luke Rocheford return for 70 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #28 Dylan Horejsi no good)
Howells-Dodge 01:47 #28 Dylan Horejsi runs for 55 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion run by #4 Gaute Gunleiksrud good)

Fourth Quarter

Clarkson-Leigh High School 02:20 #23 Isaak Wiese runs for 6 yards. Touchdown! (Two point conversion pass by #6 Lance Paprocki to #11 Carter Hanel good)

The Jaguars led 6-0 after one and shutout the Patriots 14-0 in the 2nd quarter to take a 20-0 lead into the locker room. The third quarter saw Howells-Dodge outscore Clarkson/Leigh 14-8 and extend their lead to 34-8 at the end of three. The Patriots blanked the Jaguars 8-0 in the 4th quarter.

Horejsi finished with 178 yards rushing on 14 carries and two touchdowns. Darrin Pokorny was 4-7 passing for 130 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

Luke Rocheford hauled in 3 passes for 96 yards and scored a touchdown.

Kade Hegemann racked up a game-high 28 tackles while Trevor Schumacher had 21. Lane Hegemann and Carter Jensen totaled 12 apiece while Josh Brester and Charlie Dvorak notched 9 each. Pokorny added 7.

The Jaguars rolled up 329 yards of total offense, including 199 passing. The defense gave up 240 yards of total offense, 157 of them coming on the ground.

Good strong, solid performance from Howells-Dodge, although I feel like the Jaguars can and need to be more dominant.

Howells-Dodge (1-0) hosts Guardian Angels Central Catholic (1-0) Friday night in action that can be heard on 107.9 the Bull.

The Bluejays steamrolled defending state champion East Butler 68-14 on the road last week.

It's that kind of dominance that I think the Jaguars have to be concerned about.

Howells-Dodge had a nice game against Clarkson/Leigh, but GACC looked to be the part in their game.

The Jaguars are going to have to play exceptional football to knock off the Bluejays, and it starts with slowing down Jared Minnick in the run game.

Howells-Dodge has to wrap him up and not let him break loose for big runs if at all possible.

The Jaguars have to shore and tighten up their defensive line, and players like Kade and Lane Hegemann have to take it upon themselves to be tackling machines.

Going up against the likes of offensive lineman Casey Doernemann of GACC makes for an interesting battle up front that's for sure.

Don't forget Howells-Dodge has a star running back of their own in Horejsi so look for him to have a good game as well.

I think the difference in this game could be st Quarterback. It's GACC Cody Steffen's running ability against Pokorny's arm. Then you have the outside skill positions. The Bluejays have players like Jadyn Smeal, but then again the Jaguars have Rocheford.

These two teams appear to be pretty even from a personnel and talent standpoint, and I'm looking forward to a really good game Friday night.

Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. with pregame at 6:30 on the Bull.