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53.28 Howe Enterprise November 30, 2015
Howe Christmas Parade theme is “Victory Town”
With what has taken place over the past 12 months with the Bulldogs winning four gold footballs in 12 months and the Lady Bulldogs collecting their hardware on the basketball court and softball fields, one could very easily refer to Howe as “Victory Town” – at least for this one year. The Howe Area Chamber of Commerce is labeling Howe that for one night anyway and has named this year’s annual Christmas parade theme in fact, “Victory Town.”
The chamber is not charging a fee for entering a float in this year’s parade that starts at 4:30 pm on Saturday, Dec. 12. Howe’s newest version of the chamber formed this time a year ago and are still in growth mode.
The parade route will not change from last year as the trip through downtown sparked an excitement from the community. Floats will line up at the Howe Middle School on Beatrice Street back to the Howe Community Library. The parade route will be from Beatrice Street to Duke Street and then left on Denny Street (Highway 5). From there, the route will take a right turn on Davis Street in front of FBC Howe and then left for a block on Hughes in order to go through the heart of Howe on Haning Street’s downtown district. With the route heading west on Haning Street, it will then take a left on King Street and then back to Howe Community Library.
The float registration form can be found at the bottom of this page or by clicking here at howechamber.com on the bottom of the home page. Some of those that have already registered are radio stations K-Lake, KMKT and Mad Rock, Grayson County Commissioner Jeff Whitmire, Candidate for Grayson County District Attorney – Bobbie Peterson Cate, Howe Enterprise, Howe Area Chamber of Commerce, and Howe Youth Football 3rd and 4th Grade Super Bowl Champions. The highlight of the parade each year is the Highway 5 Band that consists of the high school marching bands of Anna, Van Alstyne and Howe.
The parade will be the final one of a day full of floats. Anna will begin their parade at noon followed by Van Alstyne’s 2 pm start. For businesses, it’s the perfect situation to be involved in three different communities by being in all three parades. Last year’s parade was chalked full of spectators but was not as heavy in participants that the chamber is seeking in 2015.
“With the turnout we have had throughout 2015 so far for our events, we are expecting similar results from the Christmas parade this year.” said Howe Area Chamber of Commerce President Robert Cannaday. “From our experience, community involvement has been great this year, so we believe that we should have a large turnout come December.”
The businesses downtown will be open and available for shopping and dining. The chamber and Keep Howe Beautiful will be decorating Howe very soon with candy canes, lollipops just as a year ago. They are hoping that all high-traffic homes will participate in a decorating contest. More information on that to be released soon.
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Lady Bulldogs take Bells Tournament Championship
It’s been quite the week for the Howe Lady Bulldogs (6-0). All they’ve done is swoop into Whitewright and take down the Lady Tigers, 52-39 and travel to Bells to come away with the tournament championship. On Tuesday Howe, by way of a dominating defensive second quarter, put the hammer down. Howe’s 13-2 win of the that period gave the girls breathing room while Holly Hawkins started to take over the game. Hawkins scored 15 points and pulled down 5 rebounds, added two assists and one steal in route to Derek Lands’ 329th career win. Three-time District MVP Riley Harvey added 11 points and 7 rebounds. Other scorers were Peyton Streetman (8), Kayla Anderson (5), Alissa Smith (5 and 9 rebounds), Darci Foster (4), Payton Griffin (2), and Landry Rhoten (2). Rhoten made her first appearance in Whitewright after transferring from there.
On Friday in Bells, Howe would open the tournament with Honey Grove and would jump all over the Lady Warriors, 12-1 after the first period. Harvey had her first double-double of the season with 21 points and 13 rebounds on the way to a 51-43 win. Other scorers were Streetman (8), Hawkins (6), Smith (6), Foster (3), Rhoten (3), Griffin (3), and Kamryn Fulenchek (2).
Game two would see a rematch with Whitewright. The game started extremely slow offensively ending with a 5-3 Howe lead after the first period. It wasn’t the second period this time that Howe shut down the Lady Tigers, it was the third. Howe outscored Whitewright 14-4 on their way to a 44-32 tournament opening win.
Harvey busted out with 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Lady Bulldogs. Peyton Streetman also added 9 points and 4 boards. Other scorers were Hawkins (5), Smith (4), Foster (3), Anderson (2) and Rhoten (1). Hawkins also ripped down 7 rebounds.
In the semifinal round, Howe took on Decatur, who has 876 listed as their UIL high school enrollment compared to 302 for Howe. To break that down, that’s 574 more students – that’s roughly 287 more juniors and seniors – that’s roughly 143.5 more junior and senior girls to choose from. They couldn’t find anyone of that massive population advantage that could match the Harvey-Streetman combo that combined for 24 points and 7 steals and leading the girls to a 43-26 dominating win that saw Decatur not reach double digits in points in any of the four periods. Streetman led the team with 13 points and was followed by closely by Harvey with 11. Both were 2 of 2 from 3-point range.
Other scorers were Smith (7), Hawkins (5), Anderson (3), Foster (3), and Rhoten (1).
That would set up showdown with Bells for the championship in their home gymnasium. Howe actually trailed after the first period, 11-10 but again, the defense completely shut things down in the second by only allowing two points to Bells. Howe took a commanding 24-13 lead into the halftime dressing room.
Bells outscored the Lady Bulldogs in the second half, 20-16, but the damage was done in the second quarter and Howe hung on to a 7- point win, 40-33 and celebrated afterwards with the championship trophy in-hand.
Harvey led the Lady Bulldogs with 13 points, Smith had her best scoring night of the young season with 12. Streetman added 9 and Foster sunk a three and a bucket to total 5. Anderson rounded out the scoring with one free throw.
The girls are now 6-0 and will take time off for Thanksgiving and will not play until Dec. 1 vs. Muenster.
Peyton Streetman and Riley Harvey were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Howe finishes 10-2; equals best record
The approachment of downtown coming up Haning Street put a certain “Dandy” Don song in the heads of those over-40 Bulldogs fans. The Victory Light may be turned off for the next nine months, but the darkness of the downtown corner doesn’t drown out the ability to reflect on one of the greatest seasons in Howe Bulldogs history. All this 2015 team did was reiterate to Howe and surrounding communities that the ‘Dogs are in a new era under the direction of proven leadership and are enjoying the fruits that come with rallying a school, a city and yes, people all over the country. A certain swagger and pride once again drips from the lips of those who call Howe home. For those fairly new to the Howe community, this is something new. For those who remember “Dandy” Don’s famous late Monday night downer opera, it’s been a long time.
While a good football team shouldn’t reflect the reputation of a school and city, in Small Town, Texas, it does. A great marketing plan is essential for a city’s economic development program, but a good football team may in fact be more important.
Howe (10-2) won the coin-toss and Coach Zack Hudson chose to receive the ball for the first time all season. Facing a high-powered West Rusk (11-1) offense that had scored 388 points coming into the game, Hudson wanted to get an early lead by taking most of the first quarter clock with him. However, things didn’t go as planned as the kickoff was booted by Brent Masters and he had to go back and pick it up inside the endzone which led to Howe starting from their own 1 yard line. The Bulldogs overcame the deep start and drove down inside Raider territory to the 40 yard line, but facing a 4th and 6, the ‘Dogs weren’t able to convert. West Rusk and their high-powered offense quickly drove the length of the field and scored on a 1-yard touchdown by Nick Ballard. West Rusk led 7-0 early in the first quarter.
Howe’s next possession start at their own 30 yard line and once again, the offense moved to ball down the field but came up three inches short on a 4th down run by Tyler Grisham. All season long, Howe has been able to convert 4th downs to keep drives alive but the inability to pick up the two crucial 1st downs played a major role in the outcome in this football game.
West Rusk took the ball at their own 30 yard line and drove deep in Howe territory but the ‘Dogs defense made a stand and held the Raiders to a 25-yard line drive field goal by Jose Cerda. West Rusk extended their lead to 10-0 with 7:23 left in the second quarter.
The Howe offense, which moved the ball well early on got a big burst when quarterback Brandon Wall bounced out and ran 47 yards to the 20. Four plays later, Grisham would push it in from the 6 yard line. The drive went 67 yards and took 2:36 off of the clock and cut the Raider lead to 10-7 with 4:47 before half.
West Rusk answered back quickly with their ferocious speed. Quarterback Dee Starlin and the bowling ball back of Ballard ran their way to paydirt with 2:06 left before half. Ballard ran it in from the one and the Raiders took a 17-7 lead.
Howe had a chance to make it a three point lead before the half with the ball starting at their own 34 yard line, however a quick exit gave the Raiders the ball :55 left before half after a great punt by Nick Wilson. Howe’s defense held the Raiders and the teams went to the locker rooms with West Rusk leading 17-7.
Due to the coin-toss, the Raiders started the second half with the ball and immediately created extra anxiety for the Bulldogs by scoring on a 51-yard drive. Howe gave the Raiders a short field all night by attempting onside kicks. This short field resulted in a Starlin to Breyon Thurman touchdown pass of 17 yards. Howe trailed 24-7 with 9:24 left in the third.
What we learned about this particular Bulldog team is that they have a little bit of “never quit” in them and answered right back with a 68 yard drive that took 7 plays and ended on a 1-yard touchdown by Howe’s leading rusher, Jaden Matthews. Howe cut the lead to 24-14 with 5:47 left in the third quarter.
Things got even more interesting on West Rusk’s next possession when Howe forced yet another field goal attempt by Cerda. This one, a 39-yard attempt, never made it more than 10 feet off of the ground and Howe took over at their own 22 yard line. However, the ‘Dogs had to punt and give it back to West Rusk at their own 43 yard line. Howe’s defense once again stopped the Raiders and forced them to turn the ball over on downs. Howe had one final offensive possession from their own 27 yard line with 10:31 left on the clock but again came up empty.
A late touchdown made the game seem more out of hand than it was. Ballard took it over from the 1 yard line with 1:11 left in the game to give West Rusk the area championship with a final score of 31-14.
Howe finished the season averaging 34.17 points per game, which is the most in school history. The defense gave up 14.42 per game which improved by over 12 points per game from 2014. The defense was the best since 2000 and has improved by nearly 24 points per game since Hudson’s arrival. The Bulldogs finished with a season margin of victory of 19.75 points which, by that standard, would equate the 2015 Howe Bullogs as the 7th best team in the 72 seasons of the football program.
Most people were surprised to see Howe ranked so high at the beginning of the season. Howe had just lost the school’s all-time leading rusher to graduation. But the system remains and the resurgence of Howe remains. “We believe that we will win” was the anthem of the 2015 Bulldogs – and that they did.
Photos by Michelle Carney
Stolen truck leads to the arrest of two men
On Nov 23, 2015 at approximately 6:55 am, Howe Police Sergeant Michael Hill was dispatched to check for a stolen vehicle out of McKinney that was heading northbound on US Hwy 75. The vehicle was being followed by a family member of the victim. Sgt. Hill located the vehicle, a 2002 Ford F150, Northbound on 75 at FM 902. Sgt. Hill followed the vehicle into Sherman and eventually stopped the truck in the 1600 block of Travis Street.
Sgt. Hill arrested a 34-year-old Sherman man (driver) for Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle and arrested the 28-year-old passenger, also from Sherman, on outstanding Grayson County Capias Pro-fine warrants for Injury to a Child and Tampering with Physical Evidence, and on an Wisconsin warrant for Burglary/Assault. Grayson County Sheriff’s Office investigators also assisted.
53.27 Howe Enterprise November 23, 2015
Bulldogs land District MVP, Lineman of the Year, Defensive Lineman of the Year and Coach of the Year
Tyler Grisham was named the 2015 District 5-3A MVP. Third year Howe Head Coach Zack Hudson was named District 5-3A Coach of the Year. Matt Griffin was named Offensive Lineman of the Year and Triston “Stump” Matthews was named Defensive Lineman of the Year.
Others Bulldog honors:
Jaden Matthews, First Team Running Back
Clay Marshall, First Team Center
Tanner Hartsfield, First Team Guard
Mike Helpenstell, First Team Defensive Tackle
Ty Portman, First Team Defensive End
Tanner Hartsfield, First Team Inside Linebacker
Nick Wilson, First Team Cornerback
Winston Mosse, First Team Strong Safety
Stratton Carroll, Second Team Running Back
Joel Menjivar, Second Team Defensive Tackle
Andrew Griffin, Second Team Inside Linebacker
Zach Blevins, Second Team Cornerback
Levi Mrozinski, Second Team Free Safety
Brice Honaker, Second Team Kicker
Honorable Mention:
Cooper Akins, RB
Brandon Wall, QB
Brent Masters, RB
Hunter Morrow, OL
Jacob Taylor, LB
Austin Bearden, OL
All-Academic
| Cooper Akins |
| Landry Elvington |
| Levi Mrozinski |
| Nick Wilson |
| Dylan Moreau |
| Brent Masters |
| Stratton Carroll |
| Tyler Grisham |
| Chase Harvey |
| Tristron Matthews |
| Connor Jackson |
| Clay Marshall |
| Tanner Hartsfield |
| Matt Griffin |