[Baltimore Sun] Howard football leans on its leaders during run to Howard County championship
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Howard football is no stranger to fast starts.
The Lions went 4-1 to start the 2022 campaign and began last year 4-0. However, in both seasons Howard wasn’t able to sustain its early success.
The 2024 Lions have bucked that trend. Howard once again started the season with four straight wins. Where a Week 5 overtime to loss to Wilde Lake might’ve been the stumbling block that turned the season in years past, the Lions responded with four more wins, closing the season 8-1. A 20-6 win over Guilford Park on Saturday clinched the Howard County championship.
Howard and Oakland Mills both finished 8-1 with one county loss and didn’t play head to head. The Lions got the championship because Oakland Mills played one nonconference game, while all nine of Howard’s games came in county.
“I think that the leaders on this team that have been here before, we all had the feeling that we wanted it this year,” junior running back Darius Moore said. “We were tired of falling off in the middle of the season, toward the end. When we got through the middle, we took a tough loss, but we just strived forward.”
Howard’s leaders preached the importance of continuing to play throughout the offseason. Moore and senior linebacker Cam Demma spearheaded that message. The Lions were handed what Demma described as a “wake-up call” in a preseason scrimmage against Oakland Mills where the team struggled.
After reflection, Howard committed to making corrections moving forward. Moore and Demma continued to lead the way, bringing the best out of one another each day in practice. As coach Ross Hannon said: “Iron sharpens iron.” It proved contagious as the other Lions matched the competitive intensity of their leaders.
“I think when your most talented players are your hardest workers and best leaders, success follows,” Hannon said. “I’m not surprised at all that we rebounded from a tough loss in the middle of the season. I think they’ve been a very resilient group and found a way to finish these games this year that maybe we fell short of the last two seasons.”
Howard’s success in one-score games this season is evidence of its improvement. The Lions were 4-3 in one-possession games last year with all three loses coming in the second half of the season. Howard is 4-1 in those contests this season, winning two of its last three games by a touchdown.
Those prior shortcomings taught the Lions valuable lessons. One of the most important being the value of conditioning and playing with fight. Howard placed a great emphasis on conditioning in their offseason workouts, which has made a direct impact on this season.
“It’s about wanting it more, just wanting it more as a team,” Demma said.
Beyond those lessons, Howard’s multi-year varsity starters have developed with more experience. Starting at running back as a freshman, Moore learned that he needed to get stronger. That drove him to get better, improving his strength and vision on jump cuts. Meanwhile, Demma has come into his own as a linebacker.
Demma spent his first two seasons as a defensive end but transitioned to linebacker last year. Through diligent film study, he’s become a force and the heartbeat of the Lions’ defense. His development has also been aided by the addition of fellow senior linebacker Brendan Sutch. Sutch is in his first year playing football and his transitioned seamlessly, giving the unit a formidable one-two punch.
Already securing a county championship banner, Howard now enters the next phase of the season. The Lions earned the top seed in Class 4A/3A East and host No. 8 seed Long Reach on Thursday. Howard defeated Long Reach, 29-12, in Week 4 and now looks to carry its momentum into the playoffs.
“We have found a way this year to finish these games that we have fallen short of [in the past],” Hannon said. “Getting that first down in the final minute, to run out the clock. We’ve controlled our own destiny a little bit. I think the experience of the last couple years hopefully will translate into the playoffs. We’re just looking to go 1-0. We’re not looking ahead.”
Have a news tip? Contact Jacob Steinberg at jsteinberg@baltsun.com, 443-442-9445 and x.com/jacobstein23.
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