WILMINGTON, DEL. — The lightning came bottled up in teasingly short bursts. It would begin with a quick survey of the field, spotting the creases and then blazing through. Often, Will Howard’s runs Thursday night in Springside Chestnut Hill Academy’s season opener at Salesianum would end in piles of defenders on his back in the fourth annual Mid-Atlantic Pigskin Classic at Salesianum’s Abessinio Stadium.
Howard, nor SCH, fared the way they had hoped in a 23-0 loss to the Sallies, though there was quite a bit gained.
Howard finished with a team-high 84 yards rushing on 20 carries and four catches for 42 yards. On 24 total touches, he picked up an average of 5.2 yards a touch.
Much is expected of Howard this season. The 6-foot-1, 196-pound junior tailback has received offers from Penn State, Kentucky, Syracuse and Pitt after he rushed for 1,521 yards and 14 touchdowns over 10 games, averaging 7.3 yards per carry as a sophomore last season—against defenses designed to stop him, like the Sallies were on Thursday night.
Howard, like tiny SCH and its coach, Rick Knox, is slightly overlooked.
The Blue Devils beat a powerful Malvern Prep team last season to share the Inter-Ac League championship.
“People seem to forget that,” Howard stressed. “Coming into this year, I think I have something to prove. I think we all do. There were some flaws I waitnted to address this year. There were times when I could have been more physical last year and run people over. I wanted to incorporate that into my game and want to show people I can do that. I want to be looked at as one of the (Philadelphia area’s) elite.”
Howard, 16, gained 13 pounds since last season and his bench press went from 240 pounds to 300. He is built for power, but he has considerable speed.
Howard will be tested. He and the Blue Devils get no breaks. They opened with perennial Delaware state contender Salesianum, have Bonner-Prendie next week and the 2025 PIAA Class 5A state champion Roman Catholic in Week 3—all on the road.
Watching Howard, you get the sense Thursday night was only the beginning. He has great balance, explosive speed, good vision, and is very strong. He said after the game, he is going to look back on the Salesianum tape and kick himself a little bit, because there were a few opportunities when he could have broken one for a touchdown.
The bursts, Howard promises, will be more sustained moving forward, because he is a threat to score each time he has the ball.
“That’s the mentality,” he said. “I want to score every time I have the ball. Even reviewing in my head right now, I should have taken some of those speed option plays to the house.”
Knox’s priority is to make sure defenses have to guess where Howard will strike. Knox, one of the area’s more underappreciated coaches who does a lot with a little, had moved Howard out as a receiver on occasion and it proved to be very effective, and potentially dangerous for future opposing defenses trying to stop Howard in the open field.
“Salesianum is a good, quality program, and like I said to my team, if we scored on our first series, that might have been a different game,” Knox said. “We didn’t come here to work all summer to lose, but we saw improvement, and Will has improved. I wish we could have sprung some bigger things for Will. What we saw last year is what we continue to see, he has tremendous vision, he has tremendous patience and what you also saw is he is tremendously tough. He gets the tough yards.
“We didn’t make the plays to the outside or deeper, which we didn’t do tonight, but when we do, that will free Will up even more.”
SCH did not start well, giving up an 80-yard touchdown on the first play of its season. But the Blue Devils adjusted quickly against a team that seemed to have as many coaches as SCH had players and whose sideline stretched between the 20s, while the whole Blue Devils team might have fit between the 40s. After the opening drive, SCH was stubborn defensively, before Salesianum’s Jaiden Moultrie burst through the middle for a 32-yard touchdown run with 5:11 left in the half.
SCH’s James Rothschild let go some booming punts, Joey Schreiber, a standout lacrosse player headed to Loyola, made a handful of tackles for losses, and had a fumble recovery, and sophomore quarterback Miles Yockus showed poise under considerable pressure all night. As for the mistakes, all correctable according to Knox, the Blue Devils missed more than their share of tackles, took wrong angles on outside runs, and allowed the Sallies to exploit the middle of the field.
“I know the score does not reflect it, but there was a lot to like against a quality team,” Knox said.
And that starts with Will Howard.
Scoring Summary
Springside Chestnut Hill 0 0 0 0-0
Salesianum 7 7 3 6-23
1st Quarter
Sal. – Jamar Taylor 80 pass from Brady Nabb (Giuliano Villa), 11:40
2nd Quarter
Sal. – Jaiden Moultrie 32 run (Villa kick), 5:11
3rd Quarter
Sal. – Villa 26 FG, 5:17
4th Quarter
Sal. – Tysir Jones 3 pass from Nabb (Villa kick), 5:00
Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been covering high school football since 1992 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow EasternPAFootball.com on Twitter @EPAFootball.