The Howell Highlanders no longer want to play the role of spoilers. They are no longer the team that sneaks up on state powers and pulls off upsets.
They are no longer hunters. They are the hunted.
Let me take that back slightly. There is one thing they hunt. A Division I state championship. There were plenty of reasons you could tell them no dice in year’s past. You can no longer do that unless you feel they cannot complete with Detroit Cass Tech or Novi Catholic Central.
Howell is a bonified state power.
Howell (8-1) opens up Division - I District play at home Friday (7 p.m.) against Kalamazoo Central (6-3), a team the Highlanders beat 35-12 in opening round district play a season ago.
Howell football players admit that they came from a place where it was difficult to get teammates to go to dinner. Or hang out. Or just pal around.
They come from a place where they did not belong at the grown-up table. Their journey began from a 2023 team that finished 3-6 and chemistry problems plagued the team.
Now the Highlanders are running on all cylinders. Just three seasons ago Coach Brian Lewis was still teaching players to play with grit, to play for the city of Howell and play for each other?
That year Howell finished 3-6 and just wanted to win games. Now the Highlanders sing a different tune.
“I want to win a state championship,” junior running back Bryce Kish said.
A year ago, a clap of thunder sounded across the prep football world when the Highlanders stunned top-ranked Belleville by scoring the last nine points in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association championship game. This year hardly an eyebrow was raised when Howell thumped Bellville 57-36 in the KLAA championship game.
Junior running backs Christian Farren (180 yards and three touchdowns) and Kish (83 yards and three touchdowns) carved up Belleville most of the afternoon.
“Now we are talking about championships and winning championships,” Howell coach Brian Lewis said after the Belleville game. “That is really exciting.”