Howard Edges Out Canistota in Tight Matchup

In a battle between two first place teams, the game came down to the wire with Howard edging out Canistota 21-20.  The two teams set the run game up earlier, with both the Tigers and Hawks spending most of the first half on the ground, though the first two touchdowns in the game came through the air. 

Sophomore TE Luke Koepsell of Howard opened up the scoring in the second quarter on a 25 yard touchdown pass from Junior QB Taiden Hoyer in the corner of the endzone. It didn’t take long for the Hawks to answer with a score of their own on Junior QB Tage Ortman’s pass in the endzone to Senior RB Noah Kleinsasser for 18 yards.

Canistota missed the two-point conversion, leaving them down 7-6. 

Howard took the 7-6 lead into the half, and after a quiet third quarter, both teams got hot in fourth. 

Another touchdown pass to Kleinsasser from Ortman, this time a beautiful deep ball down the Tigers sideline for 58 yard, gave the Hawks their first lead of the night. Kleinsasser also scored the two point conversion in the back of the endzone to put them up seven.

Hoyer quickly answered with a score of his own on the following drive for Howard, keeping the ball and running it in for an 81 yard score to tie the game up at 14-14. 

With two minutes left, Ortman connected with Kleinsasser for a third touchdown to regain the Hawks lead. Another failed two-point attempt, though, would prove to be costly. 

After starting the drive on their own 28 yard line, the Tigers worked their way down the field in the final two minutes after big runs from Hoyer and Junior FB Karsyn Feldhaus, and with 14 seconds left Feldhaus punched it in from the one yard line. After the extra point, the Tigers were able to regain the lead at 21-20. Senior LB Kaden Hofer then made the game-ending sack to give the Tigers the victory. 

Hoyer and Feldhaus ended the night with over 100 yards each (Hoyer-147, Feldhaus-105) for Howard. Kleinsasser was the leading receiver on the night, with 5 catches, 119 yards, and 3 TDs for Canistota. 

Ortman was the leading passer, with 257 yards, 3 TDs, and 1 INT. The one INT was caught by Hoyer. 

Both teams will be home next week, with Canistota hoping to get back in the win column against Viborg-Hurley, and Howard returning home to play Kimball/White Lake.