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HOWLAND -- Howland senior quarterback Darren Douglas accounted for 362 yards and three passing touchdowns and the Tigers' defense was successful in holding Salem's explosive offense in check as the Tigers stunned the Quakers 28-14 here Friday night.
"Clearly, clearly the best team won tonight," said Salem coach Ron Johnson. "They (the Tigers) significantly out-coached us and significantly out-played us in every facet of the game."
"It's our signature win, no doubt about it," said Howland coach Brian Jones. "I'm just so happy for our team. My message to the team was, especially for the seniors, they've been here through the grind for four years with us. They're been through the thick and mostly through the thin, and if we can go out tonight and execute for 48 minutes, they would have a game to talk about for the rest of their lives."
The loss was the first of the year for Salem which is now 7-1 overall and 3-1 in the EBC.
"We made too many mistakes to be a championship team but we've got to battle back," said Johnson. "All of our goals are still intact, we just have to re-gather and come out and be ready to play well next week."
Howland, which improved its playoff chances with the win, improved to 6-2 overall and 3-3 in EBC play.
"I'm so proud of the team, our kids battled all year long," said Jones. "I'm just so proud of everyone, top to bottom and they came out and did their job. Tip of our cap to Salem, they're a heck of a ball team."
Howland outgained Salem 459-243, led by Douglas who passed for 312 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 50 yards with some key rushes to keep drives alive.
"He (Douglas) was the best player on the field," said Johnson. "Without question No. 4 was the best player on the field and No. 7 (Carter Nielson) was a close second."
"He (Douglas) is a ball player," said Jones. "We came into this game telling our guys that every guy's got to play like the guy tonight and he was the guy, there's no question."
Meanwhile, Howland's physical defense was successful in holding Salem's powerful rushing attack to 141 yards. Bairon Exline led all Quaker rushers with 62 yards on 11 carries.
"They (the Tigers) tackled extremely well, we didn't get a chance to get going," observed Johnson. "They re-established the line of scrimmage. They are a really good football team and we knew that coming in. It was a matchup problem that really concerned us and they did what we anticipated they would do, we just didn't answer and make plays on our own."
"The defense, it was a phenomenal job by the staff," said Jones. "They've got a great offensive line and our guys played gap sound. Over the course of the game we did a great job just getting to the ball and getting the guys down."
After a scoreless first quarter, Salem found the end zone early in the second quarter when the Quakers marched 73 yards and scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Exline. Ronin Sutter added the PAT boot and Salem took a 7-0 lead at the 11:25 mark of the second quarter.
Howland scored on its fourth offensive possession of the first half when Douglas hit receiver Carter Nielson, who had two TD catches in the game, with a 47-yard scoring strike down the right sideline. Kicker Frankie Santee added the point-after boot with 4:52 showing before halftime. The score remained that way at the break.
Howland outgunned the Quakers 189-114 in the first half. Howland's Douglas led the Tigers in the first half with 152 yards passing and a touchdown and Salem's Exline paced the Quakers in the opening half with 27 yards on five carries and three pass receptions for 24 yards. He also had a long touchdown reception called back by a holding penalty.
Defensively, Salem's Colton Blackburn had a first-half interception and Howland's Douglass had a first-half pick.
A fumbled Salem punt return late in the third quarter was recovered by the Tigers. Minutes later they capitalized on a 17-yard pass from Douglas to Anthony Deniro in the right corner of the end zone. Santee added the PAT and the Tigers led 14-7 the 3:38 mark of the third.
The Quakers answered on the ensuing drive, marching 65 yards and finding the end zone on 29-yard scoring runs by Exline. Sutter added the PAT kick, tying the game at 14-14 with 1:07 left in the third.
But Howland came right back on its next drive to regain the lead when Douglas hit Nielsen with a 38-yard scoring strike in the right corner of the end zone. The Pat was wide left and the Tigers led 20-14 with four seconds left in the third quarter.
After bottling up Salem's offense in the bfourtgh quarter, the Tigers sealed the game when running back Delmar Cox raced 10 yards up the middle to score with just 2:07 remaining. Douglas also hit Cox with the two-point conversion pass to close the scoring at 28-14.
GAME NOTES
• Although the two teams hadn't played in 19 years prior to Friday night, Howland leads the all-time series with the Quakers by a 9-6 margin, according to fourseasonsfootball.com.
• Salem hosts Carrollton (2-6, 1-3 EBC) at Sebo Stadium on Friday. The Quakers lead the all-time series with CHS 10-8, including last year's 48-20 win.
• Howland hosts Minerva (3-5 overall, 0-4 EBC) on Friday.
SCORING
S: 0-7-0- 7-0--14
H: 0-7-0-13-8--28
SCORING
S -- Bairon Exline, 1 run, (Ronin Sutter kick)
H -- Carter Nielsen, 47 pass from Darren Douglas
H -- Anthony Deniro, 17 pass from Douglas (Santee kick)
S -- Bairon Exline, 29 run (Ronin Sutter kick)
H -- Carter Nielson, 38 pass form Douglass (kick failed)
H -- Delmar Cox, 10 run (Cox pass from Douglas)
TEAM STATS
Salem
First downs: 18; Total yards: 243; Rushes-yards: 34-141; Passing: 102; Comp-Att-Int. 9-18-1; Punts 0-0; Fumbles-Lost 0-0; Penalties-Yards 2-20.
Howland
First downs: 23, Total yards 459, Rushes-yards 34-136, Passing 312 Comp-Att-Int. 17-29-1, Punts 5-32, Fumbles-Lost 1-1, Penalties-Yards 8-63.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING -- Salem, Bairon Exline, 11-62, Zander Kinsey, 13-33, Chase Golec 5-50; Howland, Darren Douglas, 12-51, Delmar Cox, 7-26, Anthony Deniro 6-40.
PASSING -- Salem, Adrian Gelonese, 9-18-102-0-1; Howland, Darren Douglas, 18-29-312-3-1.
RECEIVING -- Salem, Bairon Exline, 4-54, Owen Davidson 3-28, Zander Kinsey, 2-10; Howland, Carter Nielson, 7-181, Anthony Deniro, 4-43, Camrin Tucker, 2-28, Delmar Cox, 2-21.