Football standings

The Tigers drove the field and scored on Darland’s fourth touchdown of the night as he went in from the five yard line to end the scoring at 42-21 with 1:23 left.

Howe will travel to Lone Oak (0-9, 04) next Friday which a win and a Bells win over Leonard would put the Bulldogs in the playoffs for the first time since 2016 when Howe made it to the third round before losing to Mineola, 21-7.

Howe is 3-4 overall against Lone Oak. The last meeting took place in 2019 with Howe winning 42-6. The last time Howe played at Lone Oak was 2018 where the Dogs lost 20-12 in an upset.

School *W-L *Pct. *PF *PA W-L Pct. PF PA Strk

Gunter 4-0 1.000 218 35 9-0 1.000 408 64 9 W

Bells

3-1 0.750 211 96 7-2 0.778 422 183 3 W

Leonard 2-2 0.500 64 125 6-3 0.667 239 215 1 L

Blue Ridge 2-2 0.500 125 129 5-4 0.556 360 246 1 W Howe finally got on the board again just before the half when Haley ran it in from the six yard line to cut the Blue Ridge lead to 36-15 after Haley ran in the 2-point conversion.

With the defensive adjustments, Blue Ridge was forced to punt on their first two possessions in the second half, however, Howe was also forced to punt on their first possession. On the Dogs’ second possession of the half, Haley broke free on a run to the left and raced to the endzone from the Tiger 25 yard line. As he dove for the endzone, he landed on his already sore shoulder and was visibly in pain. Howe was unable to get the call on the 2-point conversion and the score was 36-21 with 4:00 on the third quarter clock.

Howe’s defense again forced a punt, but things began to unravel quickly for the Bulldogs as they were forced to punt on their next possession and a bad snap forced Jones to throw the ball instead of punting it which drew a penalty and gave Blue Ridge the ball at the Howe 22 yard line. But again, Howe’s defense made a stand and Howe took over from their own 15 yard line. Haley, visibly in pain, continued to carry the load and converted a fourth and five by running for 21 yards. Moments later, Rattler appeared to be heading to the endzone to get Howe within 10 points, but the ball popped out and Blue Ridge recovered at the Howe 15 yard line.

Howe 1-3 0.250 90 136 5-4 0.556 311 244 3 L

Lone Oak 0-4 0.000 53 240 0-9 0.000 144 470 9 L

Leader Player

Passing Austin Haley, 1,575 yds, 104-75 (59.43 %), 17 TDs, 5 INTs

Rushing Antwone Rattler, 1,021 yds, 162 carries, 9 TDs, 5 Fumbles

Receiving Cooper Jones, 546 yds, 28 catches, 9 TDs

Defense Beau Stephens, 101 total tackles, 3 sacks An emotional Austin Haley gets a hug from Head Coach Lance Bryan moments after playing his final game at Bulldog Stadium. Photo by Michelle Carney.