Tyner's football team stumbled out of the gate Friday night against Howard, but a stern talk in the locker room kick-started the Rams. Tyner scored 27 second-half points to finish off a 39-8 homecoming win.
"We started poorly in the first half - the first quarter especially," Rams coach Wayne Turner said. "We made too many mistakes, and Howard was able to capitalize on them and controlled the line of scrimmage. We had a 'come to Jesus' talk at halftime. We came out and played great on both sides of the ball. It was probably our best half in a long time."
Tyner (3-1) led 12-8 at halftime and made it clear the second-half agenda was to run the ball. After throwing six passes in the first half, including two first-quarter interceptions, the Rams started the third quarter with a 10-play scoring drive.
Every play was a run, ending with Kamden Edwards' 14-yard scamper.
"We told them in the locker room Howard had to kick off to us, so let's assume our presence and run it right down the field," Turner said. "We executed that perfectly and didn't hurt ourselves with mistakes. That fired up our defense, too."
Tyner kept it on the ground throughout the second half, gobbling up possession time. The Rams also made plays on defense and special teams.
Martavius Ryals returned a punt to the Howard 2-yard line, and Tyon Young punched it in on the next play with 3:59 to go in the third quarter. Ryals broke off a 54-yard run with less than three minutes burned in the fourth quarter to make it 33-8 after the extra point. Jeremiah Sawyer's 59-yard dash punctuated the win.
Tyner's defense recovered two fumbles and forced a turnover on downs in the half. Tyrique Henry burst through the line of scrimmage for four sacks.
"They manned up and we didn't," Howard coach John Starr said. "That's a good team, and they were able to run the ball. They exposed our weakness. We've also been dealing with some injuries in the same spots offensively and haven't been able to get it together."
Howard strung together 10 plays for a touchdown on its opening drive. The Hustlin' Tigers blended four passes with six runs, punctuated by Marquez Williams' 5-yard rush. But an offense that accumulated four first downs in the first quarter mustered only five the rest of the way.
"We came out focused and ready to play ball," Starr said. "We executed our game plan in the first half, but then we lost focus. We got caught up in the trash talk and the hoopla and lost focus. We've got to grow up."
Tyner scored twice in the second quarter. Jeremiah Batiste caught a 29-yard touchdown pass from Ryals, and Young ran one in 6-yards out. Batiste finished with 67 yards on two catches.
A bright spot for Howard was Eric Johnson, who rushed for 72 yards on eight carries and intercepted a pass.
Contact Idris Garcia at sports@timesfreepress.com.