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
