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closeHoward’s first senior class earned the program’s first win over a Bibb County rival, defeating Southwest 20-14 on Friday night.
Head coach Bobby Hughes said the game was the result of efforts by players and coaches alike.
“It feels great,” Hughes said. “This was the culmination of a lot of people’s hard work.”
Even as late as the third quarter, a win did not seem to be in the Huskies’ immediate future. They had struggled on offense and surrendered touchdowns to Patriots standouts Jewitt Jones and J.T. Miller on short second-quarter drives.
As the fourth quarter started, Howard senior Aarion Palmer said he thought about his coaches’ words before the game.
“They said, ‘Let’s finish what we started and go out with a win,’ ” Palmer said.
Palmer scored his first touchdown of the night nearly five minutes into that final quarter on a 5-yard run out of the wildcat formation.
The Howard defense forced the first of two crucial three-and-outs, and it was followed by a 39-yard touchdown run by Palmer.
After the second stop, sophomore quarterback Javaris Kelly hit senior Terrell Goodson on a 36-yard pass and ran 21 yards to set up Palmer’s third touchdown, a 3-yard rush.
Palmer finished with 24 carries and 102 yards, including 83 in the fourth quarter.
“He’s one of the best, if not the best, competitor I’ve ever coached,” Hughes said of his senior running back.
Hughes also spoke about the effective play of his defense.
“We’ve had great defensive efforts where one or two plays cost us the game,” Coach Hughes said. “(On Friday), we got four quarters of solid defense.”
The Huskies forced three turnovers, including an interception by senior Blake Mahoney that ended the Patriots’ final scoring effort. The Howard defense also sacked Miller six times.
Senior Kiara Jones collected three sacks, including one in the Patriots’ final drive.
“The linemen were moving fast, getting low and hitting hard,” Jones said.
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