ALEXANDRIA — Howard continued its Cornbelt Conference winning streak against Hanson.

The Class 9A No. 5 Tigers outlasted the Beavers, 12-7, in a Cornbelt Conference defensive slugfest on Friday, extending their winning streak to eight straight wins over the Beavers. 

But unlike last year’s 36-6 Howard victory, the teams locked in for a defensive battle and Tiger coach Pat Ruml said it felt like an old-fashioned Cornbelt Conference clash. 

“Hanson is really good,” Ruml said. “They’ve got some men out there and they’ve become really good at what they do. It was just smash mouth.”

The Tigers (5-1) and Beavers (3-3) traded touchdowns early on, with Howard striking first on a Kolt Becker 65-yard punt return for a score in the first quarter. Hanson’s Radek Jarding answered with a 10-yard touchdown run, while Nate Wilber’s PAT kick put the Beavers ahead 7-6 with 11:13 left in the second quarter. 

But both teams’ defenses stiffened up, forcing turnovers and keeping each other’s offenses out of the end zone until the fourth quarter.  

“This was physical,” Ruml said. “But that’s how the old Cornbelt used to be and that’s how it still is.” 

The game remained scoreless until Howard quarterback Drew Maier tossed a 30-yard touchdown pass to Korbin Shumaker, who weaved his way through the Beaver defense for the score. 

“It’s not where it was supposed to go,” Maier said about the decisive score. “So I read the defense a little bit. I just got it out, got hit, and didn’t see what happened. I looked up and we were running to the end zone.”

The score put Howard ahead, 12-7, with 8:35 left. 

“That was great,” Maier added. “That got all of our adrenaline rushing, all of our hopes up, all of our doubts away and that’s what really gave us the game.”

The failed two-point conversion left the score at a five-point margin. Hanson’s quarterback Jett Jager marched the Beavers into scoring position, highlighted by a Stetson Riggs 27-yard gain. 

The Beavers moved the ball down to Howard’s eight-yard line, but they fumbled the ball and the Tigers pounced on it with 3:17 left. 

Howard won the turnover battle, and the final fumble allowed the Tigers to run out the clock. 

“That’s huge,” Ruml said. “That’s the game because they were moving the ball on us, and their passing attack is really good.”

“We had many forced fumble recoveries and that’s big, that’s what makes the difference,” Maier said. 

The Tigers rushed for 139 yards on 29 carries. Becker finished with 132 yards rushing on 12 carries. Becker added five tackles on defense, while Shumaker and Kean Hofer had two fumble recoveries on defense.

The Beavers recorded 286 total yards, including 190 passing yards. Jager completed 7-of-10 passes for 190 yards. Jason Porth hauled in four catches for 67 yards. Riggs rushed for 61 yards on nine carries. Porth had six tackles and an interception, while Brayden Bahmuller had a fumble recovery. 

The Beavers will play at Viborg-Hurley on Oct. 10. The Tigers will play at Garretson on Oct. 10.  

It was Howard’s fifth straight win, after dropping a 40-29 decision against Alcester-Hudson in the season opener. 

“We basically got back to work after we lost that first game,” Ruml said. “We said we are going to play every game like it’s a playoff game all the way through and we’ve been doing that.”