Bulldogs roll in second half, win KLAA West by blitzing Howell, 41-20 — with archived broadcast

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HOWELL — It’s nearly time for cold and flu season, but the Brighton football team was thinking of a mythical virus late in the first half of Friday’s KLAA West showdown at Howell.

After Howell had scored off a Brighton turnover early in the game, the Bulldogs had methodically taken a 19-7 lead when the Highlanders scored twice in the final 1:39 of the half to take a 20-19 lead.

“We caught a little bit of the momentum bug,” Brighton senior Jack Aigner said.

Brighton coach Brian Lemons was less poetic.

“They took it to us in the first half,” he said. “Our (defensive backs) were playing off-script, and Howell did a good job taking advantage.”

So defensive coordinator Tim Czegda switched from a man-to-man, which Howell quarterback Ryan Brennan shredded for 203 yards in the first half, to a zone for the second half.

“Once we cleaned that up, we did a really good job,” Lemons said.

He also made some adjustments on offense, which opened up the Bulldogs rushing attack.

Brighton rolled from there, scoring on three of its first four possessions of the second half to take a 41-20 victory.

Click here for the archived broadcast!

Half the field at Howell High School is in shadow after three of the four light poles went dark during Friday's game. A power surge was blamed, and the game resumed after a short delay. (Photo by Tim Robinson)
Half the field at Howell High School is in shadow after three of the four light poles went dark during Friday’s game. A power surge was blamed, and the game resumed after a short delay. (Photo by Tim Robinson)

The Bulldogs picked up a rare win at Howell, kept the Little Brown Jug, won the KLAA West title outright and earned a berth in next week’s Lakes Conference championship game  against Walled Lake Western, which will be played at Brighton.

“We get a shot at the big guys,” Lemons said of the Warriors, who feature MSU recruit Cody White. “We’re looking forward to it. The kids all week wanted to get into a position to play those guys next week. My buddy over there (Western coach Mike Zdebski) does a nice job coaching those guys, and we just want to make sure we put our best foot forward and give them a game.”

In the first half, the Bulldogs got plenty from the Highlanders. Joey Gossett picked off a Cameron Tullar pass on the second play of the game, giving the ball at the Howell 34.

Four plays later, Ryan Brennan showed the Bulldogs something the Highlanders had used sparingly the last couple of games — a passing attack.

Brennan, who came in to the game with 909 rushing yards, found Logan Russo for a 28-yard touchdown pass four plays later to give the Highlanders the lead.

“He’s been a good runner  the last couple weeks, and we knew  that would open things, passing-wise,” Metz said. 

Brighton’s Luke Helwing said the sequence was a wake-up call for the Bulldogs.

“We came out really flat, I think,” he said. “We stressed every day (in practice) not to stress and not come out flat. But I think we stressed and came out flat right out of the gate, and that killed us.”

The Bulldogs came right back when Will Jontz scored on a 1-yard plunge, and Tullar found Rudy Ramirez for a pair of touchdowns to give Brighton a 19-7 lead.

Howell got back into contention when Brennan found Jack Mills for a 29-yard touchdown pass.

After a Brighton fumble deep in the Bulldogs’ end, Brennan found Russo again for a 12-yard score to give the Highlanders a 20-19 lead.

In addition to the defensive adjustments, Brighton made some tweaks on offense that suddenly opened things up for the rushing attack. Helwing took advantage, finishing with 133 yards rushing.

Brighton took the lead on Tullar’s 22-yard scoring pass to Joe Salvato, Braydon Ebbescotte added to the cushion with a 7-yard touchdown pass, and Jontz found Justin Klaus for a 15-yard score to finish the scoring.

Tullar and Jontz combined for 198 yards passing and four touchdowns, earning praise from Lemons.

“I’m most proud of our quarterbacks, whowere so interchangeable tonight, without any kind of selfishness at all,” he said. “They were in and out without skipping a beat. It was nice to see.”

As for the defense, the Bulldogs zone put a blanket on the Howell passing attack, which was held to 61 yards in the second half and picked off three passes

Aigner put an exclamation point on things, returning a pickoff 60 yards before he was tackled from behind by speedy Brandon Riffle.

“It was awesome,” he said. “I’m bummed that I got caught from behind. I’m already catching some flak from my teammates. But he’s fast.”

Howell (5-3) will play a Waterford school, either Kettering or Mott, in next weekend’s crossover. Mott and Kettering play each other today.

“They’re a good football team,” Metz said of Brighton, whom the Highlander could face again if they qualify for the playoffs, “and they’re 7-1 for a reason. We’ve got to get better and look to the future. You never know what might happen again.”

 

 

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