Howell is coming to Brighton to spoil homecoming. It wants to ruin Brighton’s chances of making the MHSAA playoffs.
Don’t say Howell (2-5) has nothing to play for and nothing to gain.
“We are playing for Howell. Pride,” said Howell coach Brian Lewis. “Not fun. This is not what we planned. We certainly have higher standards at Howell.”
Howell is bruised, battered and has no chance of making the playoffs. However, the Highlanders would love to spoil things for their arch rivals. Another advantage for Howell is this is Brighton’s home coming. The road team has won the last three games in this series and five of the last seven games.
Although it appears as if Brighton is rounding into shape at the right time to rout Howell, it could be in for a huge surprise. Brighton put itself in playoff contention during its current three-game winning streak during which the Bulldogs are averaging 45 points a game.
Quarterback Grant Heatherton caught fire, passing for 743 yards and six touchdowns the last three weeks. He has passed for 1,371 yards for the season.
Howell does not air it out. The Highlanders tough it. The mission is to keep the ball out of Heatherton’s hands. Lewis makes Lions coach Dan Campbell look like a worm boy wimp when it comes to gambling on fourth down. He goes for it no matter the time or the situation.
“We are going to plow forward,” Lewis said. “And it is only going to get better.”
Junior running backs Justin Jones (687 yards rushing) and Aiden Horvath (668) are tough as nails. Lewis ask them to make tough yards and they do it with a smile.