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RAVENNA, OH𑁋 A partly cloudy but nice cool evening set the scene over the gorgeous, royal blue Portage Community Bank Stadium. The Ravenna Ravens looked to defend the nest against the Howland Tigers out of Warren.
These two have only met once in the past 18 years. That contest took place just last season at Howland’s home turf. It was a defense-heavy game with the Ravens clipping the Tigers 20-13.
With just seven seniors on the 2022-2023 Ravens squad, there certainly will be some growing pains this season. Perhaps they have already started, as they dropped the ball against the Lorain Titans. A team that went 1-10 last year held the Ravens to a single digit score.
For Howland they too are looking to bounce back after an offensive no-show against McKinley (Niles).
Unfortunately the Tigers would remain caged. A handful of key moments on both sides of the ball for Ravenna gave them a gritty 14-7 win.
FIRST HALF
Howland began the first 24 minutes of the ball game, making some unique decisions resulting in 0 points. They punted once out of five drives with only a single successful fourth down conversion. One of those choices to go for it possibly cost them three points.
The Tigers drew up a pass play on 4th and 13 on Ravenna’s 20 yard line. The Ravens made them pay for that mistake by tipping the pass from John Perry forcing a turnover on downs.
A fumble by Nicholas Leasure at the Ravenna 30 on the opening drive also hampered their efforts to put the ball in the endzone.
Ravenna also had some hiccups with the football but chunk plays were able to shorten their possessions leaving less room for error. Senior quarterback M’Kell Williams broke free for a 28 yard scramble that set the Ravens up at midfield and eventual success.
Williams would find a hole in the defense a few moments later on a deep ball to fellow upperclassman Pavel Henderson. The heave was a little behind him but, the 6’1 receiver was able to contort his body and come back to the football. He snagged it right over the defender’s head and jogged the rest of the way for a 50 yard touchdown with a little under nine minutes in the half.
On the Raven’s ensuing drive, this time at the 50, junior Daniel Sanders joined the big play party. A 40 yard dash down the left sideline brought the ball into Tiger territory at the four yard line. Williams would dive across the pylon to go up 14-0.
SECOND HALF
Even when Howland could get stops they still struggled to find any rhythm moving the chains. A fumble recovery by Carter Baugher was squandered. The football did not move past the line of scrimmage and the ball had to be punted away again.
However, the visitors kept going back to the veteran half back Marco Massucci. The lone source of offense all night, was able to break free from the clutches of the Ravens defense for a 28 yard dash for six.
This seemed to put the Ravens in check for the rest of the game. Williams’s last 10 dropbacks amounted to seven incompletions and three sacks and a fumble lost. Special teams caught the bug too by muffing a punt.
Heading into the fourth, the Tigers were on the move with the run game continuing to keep the offense afloat. But, yet again, Howland shot themselves in the foot with what appeared to be a miscommunication between the playcallers. A 4th and 6 at try at the Ravenna 11 fell apart right from the start with a run play blown up right from the snap. Another missed opportunity for three points and a more than likely score of 13-14.
That would be as close as they would come to scoring again. Ravenna, especially Pavel Henderson, was able to make key plays down the stretch to stave off any comeback from Howland.
At the 5:04 mark, Henderson would pick off Perry for the second time. Then with around 1:30 left, he exploded for a 24 yard run that nearly sealed it. Finally, with 49 seconds, he dropped Perry in the backfield for a loss of 12 that put the Tigers to bed for good.
With the victory the Ravens move to 64-28 at home since 2004.
UP NEXT
Ravenna moves to 1-1 and looks ahead to an away battle with Theodore Roosevelt next Friday at 7 p.m.
Howland drops to 0-2 and will search for their first win against Boardman. The contest also kicks off Friday at 7.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
RAVENNA:
Pavel Henderson- 12 rush 74 yards, 1 reception 50 yards 1 TD, 1 (game saving) sack, 1 INT
HOWLAND:
Marco Massucci- 23 rush 75 yards, 1 TD
