It’s not likely that either Hartland or Howell will contend for the KLAA West title this season.
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to play for.
The teams match up at Hartland tonight in a contest that could serve as a road map for both teams.
Howell (2-3 overall, 2-2 KLAA West) is tied with Brighton for third place in the division, while Hartland (1-4, 1-3) is tied with Canton for fifth.
The Highlanders are currently a little over two points out of a playoff berth and need to likely win out to qualify.
The Eagles, who have won the last two meetings, would like nothing better than to win a third in a row in the series and possibly be a spoiler.
The teams meet tonight at Hartland in a game that will be broadcast on the Livingston Post starting at 6:50 p.m. Click here for the link.
“You know they’re going to be physical,” Howell coach Brian Lewis said of the Eagles. “They’re going to know all the things you need to know about a rivalry game, so we have to be ready.”
The Eagles’ biggest challenge will be facing a Howell rushing attack that grinds out yards and opposing defenses.
It’s led by Aiden Horvath (491 yards rushing) and Justin Jones (475), as potent a 1-2 rushing punch as there’s been in several years.
“I mean, it’s not a secret what they’re trying to do offensively,” Hartland coach Thomas Stevenson said. “They’re pretty good at and then got better week after week. We can see that on film and you know, something we’ve been preaching our kids all week is we just got to match their physicality and and try to weather the storm because we know what they’re gonna try to do.”
Hartland is coming off a 41-18 loss at Brighton last week, but got out to a 9-0 lead before the Bulldogs got going in the second period.
“We had a bunch of unforced errors on our part,” Stevenson said. “It was a it was a period of time where they went on to 28 unanswered (points). With this group of guys, we understand that it was a learning experience, and hopefully we’re better for it.”
Howell lost to Northville last week, 32-12, but Lewis expects Friday’s game to come down to the wire.
“It really comes down to three to six plays pretty much every football game that’s close,” Lewis said. “So if you can be advantageous in those six plays typically, you’ll have success in the game. So yeah, we got to play every play hard. We got to play every play and control our controllables and we’ll be OK.”
