In anticipation of what they expected defensively from East Ridge on Friday, Howard was prepared to go with what coach Alvin Tarver called the Hustlin’ Tigers’ “quick game.” Coincidence or not, “Quick” happens to be Jahron Reynolds’ nickname.

With Reynolds catching six passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns, Howard defeated the Pioneers 30-6 in the Region 3-3A high school football game at Howard.

“We knew they were going to play extremely far off of us,” Tarver said. “We pretty much went with our quick game. If they would’ve come up close on us, we feel like we have the speed to go deep.”

Staff Photo by Patrick Smith
Howard senior running back Marcus Shropshire carries the ball before being brought down by East Ridge's Chase Steele during the first quarter of Friday's game. Howard led 15-6 at halftime.

Each of the last two years Reynolds has tormented the Pioneers in victories for Howard (4-0, 2-0). He returned two punts for touchdowns against them last season and also had a 74-yard kickoff return. In addition to his receiving yards Friday, Reynolds returned an interception 29 yards to East Ridge’s 14 and scored on a 13-yard reception three plays later.

Reynolds scored the game’s first points on a 61-yard bomb from Michael Bryant with 6:07 left in the first quarter. He was also the holder on two extra points.

“He’s the heart and soul of this team, period,” Tarver said. “Offensively, defensively and special teams. He’s our silent leader. He’s the man.”

The Tigers managed 200 yards through the air. Chris Deloney supported Reynolds with three catches for 48 yards, including a 21-yard grab of a lofted pass into the left corner of the end zone with 9:34 to go in the second quarter. His ensuing conversion reception made it 15-0.

“It’s good to respect somebody, but I think we may have showed them too much respect,” East Ridge coach Mike Martin said. “We were playing off of them, and at halftime we talked about deepening our safeties but pinching our corners. They were throwing a whole lot of underneath stuff. You let them catch the ball in space and you’re in trouble.”

East Ridge (2-2, 0-2) answered with a quick touchdown drive that ended with Donnie Garner scoring from the 14 with 8:05 to go in the half. The Pioneers’ best other scoring chance was midway through the third quarter when they had a first-and-goal at the 7 but ended up missing a 32-yard field goal.

“I was pleased with our effort, but I wasn’t pleased with some of the things we did,” East Ridge coach Mike Martin said. “We lost our head a couple of times and stopped ourselves with penalties. The ones that did that will pay Monday, like it or not, or they won’t be out here.”

Each team used two quarterbacks — East Ridge by necessity. Adam Long and Howard linebacker Scovia Covington had a collision with 5:18 left in the first half that left both players smarting and Long woozy to the point that he did not return.

Chase Steele replaced Long. A preliminary evaluation from the sideline was Long had a concussion.

With a 24-point lead, Tarver substituted Darian Jones in for Bryant with 3:19 left in the third quarter and he quarterbacked the Tigers the rest of the way.

The Pioneers had more than a 100-yard edge in rushing, led by Gunner Miller. He had a 57-yard run on their scoring drive and totaled 111 yards on 13 carries.

Comments