Howell set to complete mission on Friday
Rebels playing for CJ IV state title at Rutgers Stadium
BY TIM MORRIS Staff Writer
The rallying cry for the Howell High School football team in 2007 has been "Complete the mission."

FILE PHOTO Howell High School quarterback Tim Lamirande is hurried by Marlboro High School's Rick Santora during a recent game in Marlboro. The Rebels go up against West Windsor South, Friday at 8 p.m. for the NJSIAA Group IV state football championship.

Last year, the Rebels made it to the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV championship game for the first time in school history. Although the Rebels would fall to Hunterdon Central, 42- 24, in that game played at Rutgers University, for the returning Rebels, it would be the beginning of a yearlong mission of returning to the championship game and winning it this time.

The opportunity to complete the mission has arrived for Cory Davies' Rebels. Friday night (8 p.m.) they will return to Rutgers Stadium to play West Windsor-Plainsboro South for the state sectional championship. Both teams will bring 10-1 records into the final.

Howell, the top seed, beat Montgomery, 49-20, in its semifinal on Nov. 16 while WWPS, the No. 2 seed, topped Sayreville, 34-14.

"We're playing good football right now, " quarterback Tim Lamirande said following Howell's semifinal win over Montgomery.

As chance would have it, these two teams met last year, with Howell pulling out a 26-18 win in Plainsboro.

In that game, it was running back Ryan Lupo doing the damage for the Pirates, piling up 166 yards rushing and scoring all three touchdowns.

This year, the Pirates again are fielding an imposing running attack, led by David Twamley, who ran for 228 yards in WWPS's win over Sayreville. The Pirates get everyone into the action when it comes to blocking for their running backs. The wide receivers do more than catch the ball - they are important players in the running scheme with their downfield blocking.

Howell iced last year's playoff win mounting a 60-yard drive that ran out the clock.

Davies said that while there are advantages to having played a team before and been successful, it doesn't guarantee that the team is going to do things the same way the second time around.

"When you've done certain things that worked against them, will they change the game plan?" he pointed out.

This year, the Pirates will be facing a much more balanced Howell attack. Tim Lamirande is in charge behind center, and he's been one of the state's most prolific passers and someone who throws the ball downfield.

Lamirande is eagerly looking forward to Friday's final. Last year he was the backup to the graduated Sean O'Reilly. This year was his turn, and he's made the most of it.

He has an array of receivers in Chance Carrick, Jason Amato, Brian Battaglia and Rob Handy, who can make plays.

With Dave Hayes emerging as a bigtime running back (he's closing in on 1,000 yards for the season), he makes teams honor the running game. They must now defend against his running as well as the downfield passing of Lamirande.

The Howell defense has shown the ability to bend-and-not-break all year. They've had a habit of coming up with the big stop when necessary.

Linemen Chris Puglisi and Joe Sabatello and defensive back Amato have been among the Rebels' most consistent players on defense.

Howell lights it up against

Montgomery

When scouting Montgomery earlier this year on the hunch that he might see the Cougars in the state playoffs, Cory Davies saw a team similar to his Howell Rebels. They like to spread teams out and throw the ball often.

A potential Howell-Montgomery match-up would come down to whose skill players could make plays, and Davies liked his team's chances.

"It came down to how our skill players matched up against theirs," said Davies. "I'll take our skill players against anyone."

It took only one play from scrimmage for the Rebels' playmakers to prove their superiority. Quarterback Tim Lamirande connected with Amato downfield for what would be a first-down play. But Amato broke a tackle and turned the play into a 70-yard touchdown, and Howell was on its way to a 49-20 victory Friday night at home.

"They've had a great defense all year," Davies said of the Cougars. "We didn't think they'd played anyone like our offense. We didn't know how they matched up against our kids."

They didn't, as Howell (9-1) rolled to the one-sided victory in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV semifinal. Howell moved on to the Dec. 2 state sectional championship game at Rutgers Stadium for the second straight year, where they will meet West Windsor-Plainsboro South, a 34-14 winner over Sayreville in its semifinal.

Lamirande picked the Cougars apart, accounting for 359 yards, completing 19 of his 32 tosses.

"The offensive line did a great job," said Lamirande, who had four touchdown passes. "They gave us an opportunity to make plays.

"Dave [Hayes] is running so well, teams can't gear up for the pass," he added.

Hayes, who has made a difference the second half of the season with his tough running inside the tackles and his breakaway speed, put a huge dent in the Cougar defense, rushing for 114 yards and two scores.

It was a three-yard run by Hayes capping a long drive that put Howell up 14-0.

But the Cougars do have their own playmakers, and JT Tartcoff stunned the Rebels by returning the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown, cutting the deficit in half, 14-7.

In the second quarter, Howell padded its lead when Lamirande led Handy perfectly. The pass fell into his arms as he ran into the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown pass that led to a 21-7 Howell lead.

The two-touchdown lead didn't last for long, though, just 14 seconds. That's how long it took Tartcoff to go 88 yards again with the kickoff, and Howell was looking at a 21-14 lead.

Undaunted, Howell answered, going 80 yards on just four plays. The final 49 yards came on a Lamirande-Battaglia hook up. Battaglia caught the pass for what appeared to be a short gain, but he slipped the tackle and raced untouched down the sideline, and Howell had its two-touchdown lead back.

Tartcoff did not get his hands on the following kickoff, and now it was time for the Howell defense to step up. Kyle Marlborough stepped in front of a pass by Montgomery quarterback Kevin Watson in the flat and returned it 50 yards for another Howell touchdown, and the romp was on.

"All week we talked about their three layers of trips and that we had to get to the flat," said Marlborough. "I read the play and knew it was coming."

The Howell defense, which gets overlooked because of the explosiveness of its offense, held the Cougars (8-2) to just one touchdown from scrimmage.

"We have a bend-don't-break approach," said Marlborough. "We don't give up big plays."

In Howell's first-round win over Colts Neck, the Rebels had a 27-7 lead at the half and had to hold on for dear life before winning 27-21. Up 35-14 at half against Montgomery, there would be no letdown this time.

The second half started very promising. Howell was kicking off, and to avoid Tartcoff, the Rebels kicked the ball high and short. It was misplayed by the Cougars, and Amato recovered for Howell on the Cougar 45. On the first play of the second half, Lamirande found Handy downfield for a 40-yard gain. Two plays later, Hayes took it in from the five, and it was 42-14. Howell was headed back to the Central Jersey Group IV championship game.

Carrick was Lamirande's favorite target Friday night, pulling down seven for 82 yards. Battaglia caught two touchdown passes, and five on the night for 96 yards.

With their ninth victory, Howell established a school record for wins in a season. The 2005 Rebels were 8-3 and won the school's first-ever state playoff game.

The Rebels added to their single-season win total on Thanksgiving Day when they beat Freehold Township, 34-14, to nail down their 10th win of 2007.