Howell's historic football season ends with decisive loss to Hudsonville

Howell’s historic football season ends with decisive loss to Hudsonville

Posted by Admin November 16, 2024 Football

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HOWELL — Howell was going to lose its first football game all season.

Everybody, even the most optimistic Highlander fan, realized the inevitability of the situation with Hudsonville leading 35-0 after three quarters Saturday afternoon.

And it was about to get worse.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, defensive back Trenton Naber intercepted a pass by Highlander quarterback Preston Barb.

Only that wasn’t the final result of the play.

Intended receiver Justin Jones wasn’t going down without a fight in his final high school game. He stripped the ball from Naber and took off for a 35-yard gain to set up No. 1-ranked Howell’s only touchdown in a 35-6 loss to No. 4 Hudsonville in a regional championship game.

It was a play that said everything about one of the key leaders for a team that made history and inspired its community from late August until mid-November.

“You’ve just got to go through with your team,” said Jones, who one many Highlanders overcome with emotion after their only loss of the season. “They were struggling mentally and we needed to make a play. It just so happened to be me.”

Jones, as usual, was being modest. Howell coach Brian Lewis doesn’t know many players who would keep battling in that situation when a bad game was getting even worse.

“He’s a 1 percenter,” Lewis said. “He does things that 1 percent of kids want to do. That play is just another play for Justin and who he is and what he’s about and what he represents and what he means. I couldn’t be prouder of what he’s done all year.”

For Howell, it was a memorable season bookended by two different outcomes against Hudsonville.

The Highlanders opened the season with a 20-17 victory over the Eagles, sending Howell on its way to the first 11-0 start by a Livingston County team. That was also the only loss this season for Hudsonville, which ran the table in the highly competitive OK Red Conference before beating two league rivals to begin the playoffs.

“I was trying to tell everybody how good of a win that was,” Lewis said. “They’re a really good team. They’re really physical. They’re really good against what we do on offense, because they see it all the time.”

Howell has typically set the tone in games by scoring on its first possession, but began the game by going three-and-out on its first three possessions and four of its five drives in the first half.

Meanwhile, Hudsonville took advantage of short fields to score touchdowns on its first three drives and four of five first-half possessions.

The Eagles led 14-0 after one quarter on a 4-yard run by quarterback Griffin Baker and a 1-yard run by Bryce Fox. A 31-yard run on a third-and-16 reverse by receiver Braden VanLaecke made it 21-0 before the Eagles put a dagger in the Highlanders on the final play of the first half.

With time for one more play from the Howell 43, Baker threw a pass toward the middle of the field to Carson Dykstra. Dykstra lateraled the ball to VanLaecke, who ran into the end zone to make it 28-0 at halftime.

“They came ready to play, no doubt about it,” Howell lineman Bobby Kanka said. “We’ve just got to come back and leave it in the hands of the underclassmen. They know what to do. They know how to continue it.”

The Highlanders would need a comeback for the ages to get back in the game. The elements for a rally were in place early in the third quarter, as they forced a three-and-out, then got a 63-yard run from Bryce Kish down to Hudsonville’s 17-yard line.

On fourth-and-two from the 10, Jones was tackled for a 7-yard loss on a toss play that was intended to be a halfback option pass.

Running the ball nine consecutive times, Hudsonville marched 83 yards to extend the lead to 35-0 and trigger a running clock on a 5-yard run by Baker with 1:44 left in the third quarter.

Howell scored its only touchdown on a 1-yard run by Jones, his 27th rushing touchdown and 32nd overall touchdown this season.

“It’s something I hope lasts forever,” Jones said of Howell’s magical 2024 season. “I hope it doesn’t end this year. I hope it carries on. I’m so proud of all these guys. It’s a family and they’re all going to do amazing things.”

Hudsonville will play Rochester Adams in the state semifinals next Saturday.

Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan