When you are looking for a description of an old-school rivalry like Howell-Brighton, sometimes you need an old-school word.
“It’s going to be a slugfest between two communities that pride themselves on being physical,,” Howell coach Brian Lewis explained, “so it’s going to be an old fashioned slobber-knocker.”
The Highlanders and Bulldogs meet tonight at Howell High School in a game that will be broadcast on The Livingston Post beginning at 6:50 p.m. Click here for the link.
The Bulldogs (7-0 overall, 6-0 KLAA West) can clinch the KLAA West title with a victory. Howell (3-4, 2-4) needs a win to keep its playoff hopes alive.
There’s little chance the Bulldogs will be caught looking past Howell, despite being off to their best start since 2000. The last two times the Bulldogs have missed the postseason, including last year, they lost to Howell.
The winner, aside from earning bragging rights for a year, also takes home the Little Brown Jug.
“For the Jug, man, for the Jug,” Lewis said. “Howell and Brighton, two communities going at it. That’s the fun of this game. No matter what, no matter who,no matter when Howell and Brighton meet, it’s a competitive game.”
To make it so, Howell will have to put the clamps on Brighton’s high-powered offense and move the ball on a stout defense that has held opponents to 14 or less points in six of the seven games they’ve played so far this season,
“We’ve got to stop them,” Lewis said. “That’s going to be really crucial, to get some stops defensively. fThat’s going to be big for us, to maintain possession of the ball. We have to churn out yards and churn out first downs. Hopefully dictate the pace of the game.”
On defense, Howell will have to slow down a Brighton offense that features a standout running back in Carson Shrader, who is averaging 7.8 yards per carry, quarterback Colin McKernan, who has completed 67 percent of his passes for nearly 1,000 yards despite missing two games to a leg injury.
But the numbers go by the wayside when these teams meet, with gains and losses dictated by the effort and, to some extent, emotional peaks and valleys that are part of the game.
“Football is an emotional game,” Lewis said. “Emotional people play the game of football. So we’re going to try and streamline it, put it in the right avenue and hopefully take it one play a time and hopefully the chips fall where they may.”
