Howard looks to get back on track

There is something to be said for how a team responds to a little adversity.

And after Howard suffered its first loss of the season last week to West Laurens, head coach Barney Hester is looking forward to seeing just how his Huskies bounce back Friday as the travel to play Perry.

“You want to get back out on the field and correct things,” Hester said. “We played a very good football team in West Laurens, and we just came up a little short. But we have a chance to get back out there again, and this week will be big for us.”

A number of things went wrong for Howard in the 21-14 loss to West Laurens. The Huskies first had to battle back from a 13-0 deficit, which they managed to do with the help of a couple of West Laurens fumbles. And the passing game suffered, as well, as Courvoisier King completed just 10-of-27 passes for 82 yards along with two first-half interceptions. Howard also collected only three first downs during that disastrous first half.

On the defensive side, the Huskies (4-1, 0-1 GHSA Region 2-AAAA) allowed more than 300 rushing yards to West Laurens, and the thing that stood out the most to Hester in the loss had to do with simple fundamentals.

“We really did not do a good job of tackling at all,” Hester said. “When you make the initial contact, you have to make the tackle, and we just didn’t do a very good job of that. You can’t give up that many yards after contact and expect to win games. That has been a focal point this week.”

Perry (1-4, 0-1) meanwhile, looks to end a two-game losing skid, having not picked up a win since its big win over Macon County three weeks ago. Last week, the Panthers were tied at 7 at halftime before eventually falling to undefeated Mary Persons. Hester feels the Panthers bring a lot more to the table than what their record shows.

“Perry is a very good football team, they really are,” Hester said. “They’re a lot different team than they were last year, and their record right now doesn’t indicate how good of a team they really are, so we know we have to be ready to play. They have played very good teams close and beat a very good Macon County team, and they’re a lot quicker than they have been, and that can present problems if you’re not ready for it.”

This story was originally published October 1, 2015 at 4:30 PM.