HOWLAND CANT ESCAPE RAVENS CLUTCHES

RAVENNA, OH – Both Howland and Ravenna came off of Week 1 losses and were both looking for their first wins of the season. Unfortunately, it was one team that could come out on top. The Ravenna Ravens made big stops in the end as they held off the Tigers 14-7 at home.

 

After a scoreless first quarter where neither team could move the ball, the Ravens would get their first huge break. After Ravenna quarterback M’Kell Henderson scrambled for a 28-yard gain, he would throw a deep shot to stand out Pavel Handerson, who won in one-on-one coverage for the first score of the game. A Mike Myers extra point would make it 7-0 Ravens. Henderson would throw for 107 yards to go with his touchdown. Then after a three-and-out by Howland, Ravenna would use a quick 5-play, 50-yard drive that ended with Williams running it in from three yards out. Another Myers PAT made it 14-0 at intermission.

 

The defense of Ravenna would give the Tigers a lot of headaches as they brought in the heat on quarterback John Perry all night long. They held Howland to just 176 of total offense, compared to Ravenna’s 305. The Tigers, however, had something going for them in the third. Coach Steve Boyle decided to give the ball to senior Marco Massucci and it paid off. After Howland started with excellent field position on the Raven 28, it would only take one play for Massucci to scamper down the sideline for a 28-yard score. A Jack Litton extra point brought the score to within 14-7. Massucci finished the night with 93 yards on 22 carries (4.2 avg) along with his touchdown.

 

Despite the excellent field position all night, Howland was not able to capitalize. Henderson picked off a Perry pass with 5:04 to go, a huge play that would help Ravenna eat up a lot of clock. And then it came down to the clutch. The Tigers’ defense would make a huge 4th down stop as they got the ball on their own 8 with 1:06 to go. They would need to drive the ball 92 yards to tie it up. The Ravens defense would show up to play as Bobby Melzer made a huge sack on Perry. An incompletion then made it fourth and long with the game on the line. Perry would pass to try to keep the game alive, but the pass fell incomplete with 15 seconds left to cap off a tough night of fourth down conversions for Howland, where they went 1/7. The Ravens then knelt down to seal the victory.

 

The Ravens will improve to 1-1 with the victory, the first in first-year head coach Joe Callihan’s career. They will now play their first road game next Friday as they travel to Kent Roosevelt in a heated rivalry, a game that the Ravens won last year 27-9. The Roosevelt Rough Riders are coming off a 42-9 defeat to CVCA.

 

The Tigers will have their first 0-2 start since 2019 with the loss. They will, however, look to get their first victory next week at home against non-conference foe Hubbard. These two teams last met in 2019, where Hubbard won an overtime thriller 22-16. The Eagles are coming off a close 8-3 victory over Greenville (PA).  

 

YSN’s Noah Ricks got the chance to talk to Ravenna head coach Joe Callihan following tonight’s victory. You can watch the video below.

 

*Contributed By YSN’s Noah Ricks

Postgame Interview With Joe Callihan: