Howe’s overall record is 388-361-24. Season 76, Game 773
Heartbreak in Commerce
Howe’s 20-14 loss a week ago at Commerce devastated the Bulldogs as they never trailed in the game until the final three minutes. Howe had a chance to clinch a playoff spot and now need to beat Van Alstyne and need help from Bonham to defeat Commerce.
The Offense
Howe has accumulated 3,019 total yards this season (335.4 per game including 1,431 rushing and 1,588 passing). The total is the most since 2016 when Howe totaled 5,009 yards (385.3 per game of which 364.8 were rushing yards). This year’s Bulldogs are balanced with 159 rushing yards per game and 176.4 passing yards per game.
Howe’s 176.4 passing yards per game ranks second in Howe history behind the 1989 “run-n-shoot” team led by quarterback Jay Skipworth that put up 179.38 yards per game. Howe’s 2010 team led by quarterback Chase Fountain averaged 176.09 per game.
In total yards, Howe ranks fifth in school history with their 335.44 per game. The top four are 2016 with 385.31, 2015 with 377.92, 1989 with 343.4, and 1998 with 337.4. All of those top four teams won multiple gold footballs.
Howe’s offense ranks really high in yards, but not as high in points as the Bulldogs are clocking in at 25.89 per game which ranks 14th all-time. The 2015 Bulldogs recorded 34.17 points per game to sit at the top spot. Of all the 13 offense ranked ahead of Howe in points per game, only the 1987 and 1960 teams did not qualify for the playoffs.
The Defense
Unfortunately for Howe, the defense is not putting up the same type of numbers the offense is. Howe’s 342.11 yards per game allowed is the second-most in school history only to the 2008 Bulldogs that gave up 365.1 per game. It’s the run defense that has done them in as they are allowing 262.78 per game which is the most any Howe team has allowed. The next closest was the 2005 team that allowed 247.90.
In points allowed, Howe is giving up an average of 28.0 per game which is the ninth-worst. Howe gave up 38.10 in the 2012 season to rank first in the dubious category.
BUT, Howe has forced 27 turnovers consisting of 14 interceptions and 13 fumble recoveries. This has allowed for Howe to improve in the average points-allowed category to 28.0 per game this season.
Putting it all together
Howe is a (-60) yards in the Yards For and Yards Against column which puts them in the middle of the pack with Howe Bulldogs teams. It’s a tremendous improvement from a year ago when Howe was (-1,205) which ranked Howe statistically as the third-worst overall team in that category only behind Woody Martin’s 2004 and 2005 teams.
By the Yards for and Yards Against column, Howe’s best team in school history was 2015 with a difference of plus 2,246. Next was 1970 with 1,828. Third is 2014 with 1,826, while fourth is 1991 with 1,721 and ranking fifth is 2016 with 1,670.
Silver Spike Series History
Van Alstyne holds the overalls series record at 37-17-2 and has outscored Howe 1320-727 since the first official UIL game in 1941. Howe hasn’t beaten Van Alstyne since 2000 which was the year before the Silver Spike trophy was created. It’s also about the time the enrollment similarities began to separate. Van Alstyne reached to 300 enrollment mark in 1998 and exploded to 400 by 2002 and are now at 517 whereas Howe didn’t reach the 300 number at the same time and have been barely above and sometimes below the 300 mark since. Currently, Howe has an enrollment mark of 356.
Since the jump in enrollment numbers, Howe has lost 12-straight. Two of the Bulldogs’ best teams of all-time statistically-speaking in 2014 and 2015 did not have Van Alstyne on the schedule for those two years.
| 10/24/1941 | 7 | at Van Alstyne | 31 |
| 11/5/1942 | 6 | at Van Alstyne | 7 |
| 9/29/1944 | 0 | at Van Alstyne | 25 |
| 9/21/1945 | 13 | Van Alstyne | 0 |
| 11/2/1946 | 26 | at Van Alstyne | 0 |
| 10/31/1947 | 0 | at Van Alstyne | 7 |
| 10/21/1948 | 0 | at Van Alstyne | 48 |
| 9/8/1961 | 0 | at Van Alstyne | 14 |
| 9/7/1962 | 12 | Van Alstyne | 30 |
| 9/6/1963 | 0 | at Van Alstyne | 36 |
| 10/9/1964 | 2 | Van Alstyne | 40 |
| 10/8/1965 | 6 | at Van Alstyne | 45 |
| 10/2/1970 | 33 | Van Alstyne | 20 |
| 10/1/1971 | 8 | at Van Alstyne | 7 |
| 10/20/1972 | 12 | Van Alstyne | 40 |
| 10/19/1973 | 0 | at Van Alstyne | 19 |
| 10/18/1974 | 0 | at Van Alstyne | 0 |
| 10/17/1975 | 6 | Van Alstyne | 22 |
| 10/22/1976 | 2 | Van Alstyne | 26 |
| 10/21/1977 | 22 | at Van Alstyne | 21 |
| 10/13/1978 | 28 | Van Alstyne | 12 |
| 10/12/1979 | 40 | at Van Alstyne | 0 |
| 10/31/1980 | 23 | at Van Alstyne | 7 |
| 10/30/1981 | 12 | Van Alstyne | 20 |
| 10/29/1982 | 21 | at Van Alstyne | 21 |
| 10/28/1983 | 21 | Van Alstyne | 27 |
| 11/9/1984 | 6 | Van Alstyne | 15 |
| 11/8/1985 | 35 | at Van Alstyne | 0 |
| 9/12/1986 | 19 | Van Alstyne | 22 |
| 9/11/1987 | 21 | at Van Alstyne | 6 |
| 10/28/1988 | 19 | Van Alstyne | 6 |
| 11/3/1989 | 35 | at Van Alstyne | 13 |
| 9/14/1990 | 6 | at Van Alstyne | 12 |
| 9/13/1991 | 3 | Van Alstyne | 13 |
| 11/15/1991 | 8 | Van Alstyne – Bi-District | 30 |
| 9/4/1992 | 20 | Van Alstyne | 71 |
| 9/3/1993 | 0 | at Van Alstyne | 23 |
| 11/4/1994 | 19 | at Van Alstyne | 13 |
| 11/10/1995 | 7 | Van Alstyne | 6 |
| 10/11/1996 | 0 | at Van Alstyne | 35 |
| 10/10/1997 | 14 | Van Alstyne | 26 |
| 10/9/1998 | 41 | Van Alstyne | 13 |
| 10/14/1999 | 27 | at Van Alstyne | 17 |
| 10/20/2000 | 14 | at Van Alstyne | 10 |
| 10/19/2001 | 0 | Van Alstyne | 33 |
| 9/13/2002 | 7 | at Van Alstyne | 28 |
| 9/12/2003 | 7 | Van Alstyne | 32 |
| 9/10/2004 | 2 | at Van Alstyne | 42 |
| 9/9/2005 | 20 | Van Alstyne | 21 |
| 9/12/2008 | 6 | at Van Alstyne | 48 |
| 9/11/2009 | 6 | Van Alstyne | 35 |
| 11/2/2012 | 15 | at Van Alstyne | 42 |
| 11/1/2013 | 7 | Van Alstyne | 31 |
| 10/14/2016 | 36 | at Van Alstyne | 39 |
| 10/20/2017 | 27 | Van Alstyne | 53 |
| 11/2/2018 | 0 | at Van Alstyne | 60 |
| 11/1/2019 | Van Alstyne | ||
| 727 | 0 | 1320 |
Battle of the Silver Spike Records
| Most points scored by Howe | 41 | 10/9/1998 |
| Most points scored by Van Alstyne | 71 | 9/4/1992 |
| Most combined points in a game | 91 | 9/4/1992 |
| Howe Wins | 17 | |
| Van Alstyne Wins | 37 | |
| Total Ties | 2 | |
| Total shutouts by Howe | 5 | |
| Total shutouts by Van Alstyne | 11 | |
| Last shutout by Howe | 11/8/1985 | |
| Last shutout by Van Alstyne | 11/2/2018 | |
| Most overall points scored by Howe | 727 | |
| Most overall points scored by Van Alstyne | 1320 | |
| Most wins by a Howe head coach | 4 | Jim Fryar |
| Most losses by a head coach | 6 | Norman Dickey |
| Consecutive wins by Howe | 4 | 1977-1980 |
| Consecutive wins by Van Alstyne | 12 | 1947-1965/; 2001- |
| Howe’s record at Bulldog Stadium | 6-18 | |
| Howe’s record at Panther Stadium | 11-19-2 | |
| Howe’s record at a Neutral site | 0-1 | Plano, TX, 1991 |
Howe is 5-6 vs. Van Alstyne in November and have been outscored by the Panthers, 164-207 in November matchups. Howe is 1-3 in November games played in Howe.
Series largest margin of victory for Howe = 40 in 1979 at Van Alstyne
Series largest margin of victory for Van Alstyne = 60 last year at Van Alstyne.
Most rushing yards by Howe vs. Van Alstyne (missing 1979 game):
406, 2016
360, 1985
359, 1986
324, 1989
303, 1998
Most rushing yards by Van Alstyne vs. Howe:
396, 2008
370, 1984
326, 2005
323, 1961
323, 1965
1989 Full Game of the 32nd Silver Spike at Van Alstyne
1990 Full Game of the 33rd Silver SPike at Van Alsytne
1991 Full Game of 34th Silver Spike at Bulldog Stadium in Howe
1998 Full Game of 42nd Silver Spike at Bulldog Stadium
The Silver Spike trophy was the brainchild back in 2001 by sports writer Jeff Wood of the Van Alstyne Leader and Howe graduate Monte Walker. The winner of the Howe and Van Alstyne football rivalry receives a silver railroad spike, mounted on a three-foot trophy to keep in their trophy case for an entire year. Howe has yet to have it since its creation. The tall and heavy trophy features the silver spike which symbolizes the growth that the Houston and Texas Central railway brought to both towns in the early years of their existence. Not soon after the towns were formed, they started playing football against each other. But those early years prior to 1920 formation of the UIL do not formally count and Howe didn’t even field a UIL sanctioned team until 1935.
Howe first played Van Alstyne on October 24, 1941 which the Panthers won, 31-7. The Spike was created before the 2001 season and that was the year Van Alstyne started the current 11-game winning streak over Howe. It also happened to be the same time that Van Alstyne outgrew Howe in enrollment numbers due to the Georgetown edition in their community. Before the current winning streak, Van Alstyne led the series, 25-17-2 but now have double the amount of Howe’s wins thanks to the recent stretch. Howe’s longest winning streak versus the Panthers was four games from 1977-1980. When the trophy was originated in 2001, then Van Alstyne Head Coach Randy Matthews told the Van Alstyne Leader, “Because of the closeness of the two towns and what this rivalry means to so many people, I hope everybody will be up for this game and prepared to play. When you have a game like this with so much emotion, there’s always big plays involved.”
The Spike was is akin to Sherman and Denison’s Battle of the Axe which Walker was a radio broadcaster for those games from 1994- 2003 and television broadcaster in 2008. “The community involvement and the electricity that comes with that Sherman Denison Battle of the Axe is so impressive and Howe and Van Alstyne had the same rivalry, but on a smaller scale. We were able to work with those in Van Alstyne back in 2001 to share cost of the trophy and make this something special. However, it won’t be truly special until it comes to Howe’s trophy case.” said Walker.
On This Day in Bulldogs History (5-5)
1935, beat Gunter at Bulldog Stadium, 31-6
1940, beat Pilot Point at Bulldog Stadium, 34-0
1963, lost at Royse City, 19-0
1968, won at Celeste, 20-8
1974, lost at home to Frisco, 15-13
1985, beat Whitewright, 70-0
1991, beat Tom Bean, 22-0
1996, lost at Celina, 34-0
2002, lost to Anna, 7-0, at Bulldog Stadium
2013, lost at home to Van Alstyne, 31-7
