HOWARD — Howard started fast and held off Hanson late for a high school football win Friday. 

The Tigers built a 20-0 lead and outlasted the Beavers, 20-12, in a top-five Class 9AA matchup. No. 1 Howard, which won last year’s Class 9A title, received two total touchdowns from quarterback Taiden Hoyer and one from Karsyn Feldhaus to power the win.

“It was a great win for us,” said Hoyer, who had a passing and rushing touchdown. “We ran the heck out of the ball and it was two teams bashing each other.”

It had plenty of pre-game hype as the Cornbelt Conference foes will be among the top Class 9AA teams this season. Howard has now won five straight against the Beavers, who were ranked No. 4 in the preseason poll. 

“We might see these guys again down the road and they are very good,” Howard coach Pat Ruml said. “I don’t see a lot of teams in 9AA that have the athletes that they have.”

Hanson’s athletes were bottled up by the Tigers early, but Hadley Wallace showed off his speed in the third quarter. The Tigers (1-0) received the ball to start the second half and chewed off nine minutes off the clock. Hanson, however, forced a turnover on downs at its 29-yard line.

Wallace took a short Jackson Jarding pass in the flat, sprinted 71 yards for a touchdown and cut the deficit to 20-12 with three minutes left. 

“Our scores were on big plays,” Hanson coach Jim Haskamp said. “But I think it shows we have good skill people and we have good athletes.”

The teams traded possessions the rest of the way and Howard picked up a key fourth down to cement the win. The Tigers faced a 4th and 1 at Hanson’s 46-yard line with 1:45 left. 

The Tigers called a timeout after failing to get Hanson to jump offsides. That’s when Ruml left the play in his players’ hands. 

Hanson's Ethan Cheeseman (21) catches a touchdown pass over Howard's Karsten Hamilton on Friday in Howard. (Ryan Deal / 605 Sports)

“I asked the guys what they wanted to do and they wanted to go for it,” Ruml said. “They said we are going to get it and they did.”

Feldhaus plunged his way forward for a first down and Howard kneeled on the ball to finish it. The Beavers (0-1) went three and out on their opening possession, while the Tigers looked sharp in their opening drive.

Hoyer engineered a crisp first drive of the season, culminating with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Atticus Darnell. Hoyer added a second-quarter touchdown run and Feldhaus tacked on a one-yard touchdown run for a 20-0 lead. 

“They just ran the ball right down our throat to start with and we weren’t able to,” Haskamp said. “They were getting penetration on us and we weren’t getting penetration on them to start out on the line.”

The Beavers scored a much-needed touchdown when Ethan Cheeseman soared over Karsten Hamilton for a 14-yard touchdown reception from Jayce Slaba, cutting it to 20-6 with four minutes before halftime.  

“I figured they were going to be coming back,” Ruml said. “They are a Hanson team that’s well coached and that’s what they do.”

Hanson had another chance to score in the first half, but Hoyer intercepted a pass to preserve the 14-point lead. The Tigers then held off Hanson in the second half.   

“The second half didn’t go as well,” Hoyer said. “But we got stuff to work on and that’s what we are going to do this week.”

Howard plays at Class 9A No. 1 Canistota next week. Hanson plays at Irene-Wakonda.