Rebels Top Raiders in Consolation Contest

It may not have been the state tournament game the Howell Rebels were hoping to play in this year but the local squad will go into their Thanksgiving Day contest against Colts Neck with a win after edging out Hillsborough in a consolation game Friday night.

The final school had the Rebels squeaking out a 31-28 win despite Hillsborough jumping out to a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter alone. The Howell squad battled back to trail just 21-13 at the half and outscored their opponents 18-7 in the second half.

Senior quarterback Connor McGlynn did not have his best game of the year but completing 19 of 33 passes for 286 yards was just enough as he had two touchdown passes to go with two interceptions.

His favorite target on the day was fellow senior John DeMarco who pulled in four passes for 73 yards including a 54 yard strike. Joey Schultz also pulled in a touchdown pass for the Rebels as did Dontrell Jones as McGlynn connected with six receivers on a very balanced passing attack day.

Friday’s game was one of the most successful of the year on the ground for Howell with Nate Litowsky just reaching the 100 yard mark on 14 carries for his team. His longest of the day was a 40 yard ground and pound to help push his team ahead.

The game against Hillsborough put McGlynn over 2000 yards passing on the year and brought his total touchdown passes to 22 with just nine interceptions. In his final campaign the senior has completed 145 of 261 yards for a completion percentage just shy of 56 percent. Schultz has pulled in 43 of those passes while Jones, Jarvis Leaks and DeMarco have all pulled in more than 20 passes so far this year.

With the win the Rebels improved their record to 4-5 on the year and can finish at .500 with a turkey day win. The locals also improved to 3-2 on the road while winning just one game at home this year. That could work in their favor as this year’s game is at Colts Neck at 10 a.m. next Thursday morning. Colts Neck is 8-1 this year and will be hosting Nottingham in the second round of the state tournament on Friday night.