After a back-and-forth first half in which the two teams mirrored each other in nearly every phase - yardage, penalties and scoring - Howard broke the mirror and Brainerd's hopes with a dominating second half Saturday night.
After leading by just one point at halftime, Howard's Hustlin' Tigers scored 20 unanswered points in the final two quarters to pull away for a 33-12 nonregion high school football win at Brainerd.
"I was very pleased with the effort, but especially in the second half," Howard coach John Starr said. "We looked a little shell-shocked in the first half. Maybe it was first-game jitters. But we settled down and got physical in the second half."
Bruising sophomore running back Devontay Davis helped the Hustlin' Tigers take control by rushing for 83 of his 134 yards in the deciding half.
"To begin the season by coming here and beating Brainerd on their field means everything to us," said Davis, who scored two touchdowns. "We had worked hard coming into this game, so this was a great way for that to pay off.
"My line meant everything to me tonight. They were tremendous for us."
Howard gained 170 of its 244 rushing yards in the second half as its line wore down the Panthers. Hustlin' Tigers quarterback Marquez Williams extended the slim halftime lead with an 11-yard scoring run late in the third quarter, and after recovering a Brainerd fumble on the next play, Howard's Jumaane Johnson swept around the left side of his line for a 13-yard TD that all but put the game away.
Davis added the final score later in the fourth period.
Brainerd scored the game's first two touchdowns, Lamonte Pickett's 4-yard run followed by a nice one-handed catch in the back of the end zone by Jesse Walker on a 4-yard pass. But from there turnovers and miscues plagued the Panthers, who were held to 59 rushing yards in the second half.
The teams combined for eight turnovers and 35 penalties, with Howard getting flagged 21 times for 195 yards. Each team had at least one score called back because of a penalty.
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.