Staff photo / Greg Macafee Howland senior quarterback John Perry, center, looks for an open receiver as a trio of wide outs run their routes during a practice earlier this month. Perry will be the centerpiece of first-year head coach Brian Jones’ offense this season.

HOWLAND — With back-to-back subpar seasons, the Howland Tigers football program needed to make a change and did so by hiring Liberty alum Brian Jones.

Coming to the program as a new head coach, the Tigers’ skipper knows there’s bound to be some growing pains but wants to change the culture of the program first and get the kids to buy into his three-pronged philosophy.

Those three principles are relentless effort, embracing competitive excellence and to build the team and love one another.

“If we can do those three things then the culture will take off in the right direction,” he said. “We want team-oriented players who will come in and give relentless effort, love to compete and want to embrace the impact of what it means to be a part of something bigger than themselves.”

In the few weeks of summer camps and practices, Jones is impressed at the team’s coachability and closeness he’s seen so far, and he said it starts with the returning seniors.

“These seniors haven’t had a whole lot of success with four wins in the last two years and they’re itching to get better. They want to see the results,” he said.

Of those returning, Jones pointed to seniors John Perry, Luke Delida, Carson Schultz and Brendan Ray, among others, to be the leaders of the team.

“We have about 17 seniors who want to cap off their high school career the right way,” Jones said. “They’re doing what we’re asking them to do and doing so at a high level. I told our guys from the get-go that there is no bigger title in our program than ‘senior.’ They have to have their best career year this season for us to turn this team around.”

The 2023 season will open for the Tigers Aug. 17 with a rivalry game against Niles.

“It’s baptism by fire with the backyard rival. You have to respect the rivalry game. It’s going to be a great game on both sides of the ball,” Jones said.

As an independent program, Howland will take on fellow independent teams Boardman, Canfield and University Schools in weeks four, nine and 10, respectively.

Staff photo / Greg Macafee
Howland running back Davae Honzu runs through a gap during a practice earlier this month at Howland High School.

OFFENSE

As the team’s returning quarterback, Perry has met Jones’ expectations. Jones noted that while the team as a whole is in a learning phase, Perry has done a good job.

“He’s a competitor, and if you’re going to play quarterback in our system you have to be competitive. He’s not afraid of the challenge, which has been good to see,” Jones said.

As for the offense Perry will be leading, Jones said the offensive strategy will be a multiple set offense, but the primary goal is to establish the run game which will, in turn, open up the offense for chances to throw the ball and keep opposing defenses on their toes via the play action strategy.

“We want to get (the run game) going but also want to create explosive plays,” Jones said.

“We want to try to take shots when they’re available and force teams to cover the whole field. You have to be able to run the football to have an effective offense, and our personnel fits that.”

To get the ground game going, the Tigers still have some work to do, but are looking at returning players Davae Honzu, Arison Wayt and Ray to handle the workload as the season starts. Jones also noted that Caleb Walker and Cam Robinson could see some carries as the season plays out.

At the receiver position, however, youth and inexperience could be an issue early on in the year.

“There are guys there, but they’re all young,” Jones said. “It’s going to be all about who can grow the fastest, pick up the system and be consistent with their responsibilities.”

Jones added that he is looking at Delida to lead the receiving corps.

“He’s a polished athlete who is really well put together. He’s smart and is a good leader so we are going to look his way,” Jones said.

Other players Jones is looking to fill the roles are Ethan Bass, Joshua Jarvis, Mario Sanabria and Stephen Heberling.

The easiest way to establish the run game is with the guys in the trenches. Jones said he is excited about the offensive line and credits them as one of the team’s strong points heading into the 2023 campaign.

He is looking at Landen Infante, Jason Davis, Landon Lumen, Carson Wolanzyk and Logan McFadden to be the leaders up front.

“We have some younger kids who are getting looks during summer camp,” he said.

“There’s a lot of promise there, but we still have a long way to go. We’re hoping to get more depth, but we’re excited for what the future holds in terms of our front guys.”

Staff photos / Greg Macafee
Howland’s Luke Delida fights for yardage during a practice earlier this month.

DEFENSE

As another credit coming into a new team, Jones considers the defensive line to also be a strength, but knows there is still work to be done.

Many of the offensive linemen will shoulder the responsibilities on the defensive side of things, but the addition of Carson Schultz and Gabe Gamichia to the mix will help bolster the defense.

At the end of the day, Jones said the defense is going to come down to pursuing the ball, tackling and forcing turnovers.

“We’ve done a good job of that this summer, but just like the offense, we have to learn the scheme of the defense and have to put the right guys on the field that can do the things we’re asking them to do,” Jones said.

As the season creeps closer, Jones admitted that the defensive secondary is going to be young, but is looking to the group of linebackers to help mitigate the defense as a whole.

“We’re going to be young in the secondary, but we are going to be solid at linebacker,” he said.

Jones is looking at Wayt and Ray as middle linebackers, and Robinson and Gavin Swogger at the outside linebacker position. Jones noted that the quartet’s experience last year will help tremendously.

For the secondary, however, Jones knows it is going to be an uphill climb.

He plans on using Perry as much as possible, but will lean on TJ Douglas, a newer footballer coming off of the basketball team, to fill in and cover. At the cornerback position, Frank Hoso and Honzu are getting reps during practices.

“For our scheme, those guys need to get as many reps during the summer as possible. Our coaching staff has done a good job of implementing how we are going to play our coverages,” Jones said. “It’s a work in progress, but it’ll pay out for us.”

SPECIAL TEAMS

Rounding out the team is Jack Litton, who will handle essentially all the duties at kicker.

“(Litton) has gone to camps all over the country this summer. He has a nice leg and we’re going to use him as a weapon,” Jones said.

For those who will be returning kicks, however, Jones said it’s still a toss-up.

2023 Schedule

Aug. 17 at Niles 7 p.m.

Aug. 25 Poland 7 p.m.

Sept. 1 at Hubbard 7 p.m.

Sept. 8 at Boardman 7 p.m.

Sept. 15 at West Branch 7 p.m.

Sept. 22 NDCL 7 p.m.

Sept. 29 East 7 p.m.

Oct. 6 at Chaney 7 p.m.

Oct. 12 Canfield 7 p.m.

Oct. 20 University School 7 p.m.

2022 Results (2-8)

Niles McKinley (2-8) L 21-7

at Ravenna (3-7) L 14-7

Hubbard (6-5) L 20-8

Boardman (4-6) L 40-13

West Branch (12-2) L 48-15

Warrensville Heights (1-9) W 19-0

at East (1-9) W 3-0

Chaney (10-2) L 42-0

at Canfield (14-1) L 43-7

vs. University School (8-2) L 28-6

Coaching staff

Head coach: Brian Jones, first season

Staff: Sean Boraweic, Sam Bellino, Dillon Randolph, Jon Mosora, Scott Thompson, Brenden Jones, Mike Tricomi, Logan Sheptock, Jake Lipkovich, Eric Ungaro

Team facts

Division III, Region 9

Independent

Players on roster: 64

Returning letterwinners (11): Carson Schultz, Luke Delida, Marco Kubancsek, John Perry, Brenden Ray, Arison Wayt, Frank Gajski, Landon Infante, Mariano Sanabria, Chris Mijavec, Jack Litton.

2022 season: The Tigers earned back-to-back wins over Warrensville Heights (19-0) and East (3-0). The win over Warrensville Heights snapped a five-game losing streak, but the two wins were the high spots in the 2022 season.