The crowd at Howell High School braved the cold weather for the Rebels’ opening game in the state football sectional playoffs — and the fans were rewarded for their support.
In a game 44 degrees colder — a chilling 30 degrees, without the wind, at kickoff — than their previous week’s regular-season finale against Marlboro High School, fourth-seeded Howell advanced to the semifinals of the NJSIAA South Jersey, Group 5 playoffs with a 31-17 victory over fifth-seeded Cherokee High School on Nov. 10 in Howell.
Cherokee decided to defer to start the game but caught the Rebels off-guard with an onside kick — an indication of how wild the first quarter would be.
Howell’s standout quarterback, Edwin Morales, threw two interceptions to start the game, with one coming in the end zone as he scrambled to avoid the Chiefs’ pass rush. Both teams failed to score in the first quarter.
Morales shifted momentum to start the second quarter, as he came up big for the Rebels on the other side of the ball. Playing defensive back, Morales intercepted a deep pass across the field.
“I had a tough time going on offense today, but to be able to finally make a big play on defense and to help on the other side of the ball is a big thing,” he said.
The Rebels didn’t get out of their own way as they continued to get penalized for needless mistakes. Howell finally scored on a third-and-40 with 4:20 left in the first half to go up, 7-0, when Morales connected with Brandon Wilson on a 27-yard pass for a touchdown. Cherokee responded quickly with a rushing touchdown from inside the red zone to tie the game with two minutes remaining in the half.
Then the impact player of the game, wide receiver Naseim Brantley, scored on a 96-yard kickoff return to put the Rebels up, 14-7, heading into halftime. In the second half, Brantley had a big first-down catch on third-and-20 to set the Rebels up in scoring position, which Morales capitalized on with an 8-yard touchdown run to give Howell a 21-7 lead.
A Cherokee touchdown and subsequent field goal following Morales’ third thrown interception decreased the Rebels’ lead to 21-17.
Then Brantley scored on his only rush attempt of the game. He ran the ball in from 55 yards out for the clutch touchdown to put the Rebels up, 28-17. An interception by Brantley led to a 32-yard field goal by kicker Patrick Handy to seal the victory for Howell.
With two important touchdowns in the game to lead the Rebels onto the next round of the playoffs, Brantley found the big touchdown run in the fourth quarter to have the most impact.
“We needed a big play to run out the clock, and I made that big play,” he said.
The victory puts Howell one step closer to its ultimate goal of winning the state championship, which the Rebels last did in 2007 with a 46-13 victory over West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South in Central Jersey, Group 4.
Howell fell in a high-scoring semifinals matchup in the South Jersey, Group 5 tournament last year to Toms River High School North, 62-34.
“It feels amazing right now, making it to the next round of the playoffs. We are just one step closer to our goal,” Brantley said.
The next step toward reaching that goal of a state title is a difficult one. The Rebels must get past the No. 1 seed, Lenape High School, in Medford Township on Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. Lenape shut out eighth-seeded Vineland High School, 35-0, in its playoff opener on Nov. 10.
Howell head coach Luke Sinkhorn called the victory excellent after stating this game was definitely playoff football.
“[It was the] first time our offense, defense and special teams showed up and [all] played a solid game. I’m very excited about what they did. They overcame some early turnovers and mistakes, and that is what good teams do,” Sinkhorn said.
The coach said the team will enjoy the victory for a bit before looking ahead to Lenape.
“This [South Jersey], Group 5 [bracket] is solid throughout,” Sinkhorn said.
Sinkhorn called both Lenape and Cherokee solid and great teams, and the Rebels know every week will continue to be battle.