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Howe a prize catch for Pirates
By
Sammy Batten
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Hussein Howe
may not be a football prodigy, but he certainly was ahead of his time at
University Christian High School.
Howe was so talented as an eighth
grader at the private school of about 700 students in Jacksonville, FL,
that coach David Penland promoted him to the varsity squad near the end
of the 2011 season.
“He was sort of scared,'' Penland
said. “But we knew going into his freshman year he'd have a chance to
start, and he did. We don't start many freshmen here, but we wound up
winning the state championship with him as our main running back.''
Howe helped University Christian to a
second Class 2-A state title as a senior in 2015 by rushing for 191
yards and five touchdowns in the championship game. It was those kind of
performances that marked Howe's prep career and caught the attention of
then-Duke offensive coordinator Scottie Montgomery.
Montgomery was recruiting Howe, but
never extended a scholarship offer to play for the Blue Devils.
Montgomery changed that soon after becoming East Carolina's new head
coach in December and eventually convinced the 5-foot-9, 175-pounder to
join the Pirates last week
on
national signing day.
The last-minute decision was a major
recruiting coup for Montgomery. Howe was one of the most heavily
recruited prospects in the ECU Class of 2016, having drawn offers from
Appalachian State, Cincinnati, Colorado, Georgia Southern, Louisville,
Middle Tennessee State, Mississippi State, Temple, Utah, Wake Forest,
West Virginia and Western Michigan. He narrowed his list of favorites to
ECU, Louisville and Maryland before choosing the Pirates with a dramatic
announcement on signing day.
Howe had his younger brother bring a
box to the stage during the announcement at University Christian. He
then opened the box, revealing an East Carolina cap, which he pulled out
and placed on his head.
“The new (ECU) staff pounced on him
pretty hard,'' Penland said. “I think he may have taken a visit up there
last summer, but the other staff was never really into him that much. He
was getting recruited by Duke, and when coach (Montgomery) got in (at
ECU) he hit up Hussein pretty quick.''
The new ECU staff apparently
recognized in Hussein what Penland saw five years ago when he decided to
bring an eighth grader up to his varsity late in the 2011 season.
Penland wasn't just adding a middle schooler to any high school roster.
University Christian is a perennial small-school power in Florida that
had already won six state championships before Howe's arrival.
“I usually don't pull up a lot of
kids,'' Penland said. “But we had been watching him at the junior high
and saw he was dominating. We wanted to get his feet wet at the end of
the season and give him a little taste of what it was going to be like
in his freshman year.
“Not a lot of kids could handle that.
But he did a heck of a job for us. He's a kid that doesn't want to be
denied. He's a hard-nosed, competitive kid. When he sets his mind on
something he's going to accomplish it.''
The experience proved valuable as
Hussein assumed a starting role as a freshman at running back and spent
time in the defensive secondary, too. He wound up leading the Christians
with 1,107 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns on 101 carries.
Howe capped the 2012 season by
scoring a momentum-changing 26-touchdown at the end of the third quarter
of the state finals that started a 22-0 run by University Christian. The
Christians went on from there to defeat Miami Dade Christian, 28-10, at
the Florida Citrus Bowl.
In addition to rushing six times for
44 yards in the title game, Howe scooped up a fumble and returned it for
a touchdown to score the first points for University Christian, which
won its seven state crown.
Flash forward to December 2015 and
Howe is at the forefront of yet another drive to the state championship
game. Before reaching the finals, however, the Christians faced North
Florida Christian in a second-round playoff games. Prior to the game,
Howe came to Penland with a request.
“He came to me and wanted to play on
all our special teams,'' Penland said. “That's what kind of team player
he is. He wanted to be on the field to help his team out any way he
could. And he did. He didn't come off the field the rest of the way. He
played every down of the games.''
University Christian got past North
Florida Christian, 28-10, then beat Victory Christian Academy, 31-0, to
reach the finals.
Howe would score four first-half
touchdowns and wind up with 191 yards rushing and five scores in the
game as University Christian defeated Tampa's Cambridge Christian,
61-16, for its eighth state crown.
“On the first play of the
championship game he was playing defense and forced a fumble,'' Penland
said. “That set the tone for the game. Then he scored the first
touchdown two plays later, and ended up scoring four more.''
Howe completed his prep career with
5,026 yards rushing and 86 touchdowns. He produced that yardage using a
combination of great speed – he's been timed at 4.43 seconds in the
40-yard dash and 11.90 over 200 meters – and power.
“He doesn't get tackled for loss,''
Penland said. “Even when he gets hit in the backfield, he finds a way to
fall forward and get a couple of yards. He's very strong and very agile.
And he's tough. He's not the biggest back in the world, but he plays
like he is.''
Howe hopes to contribute next fall to
what is shaping up to be a strong running back corps for the Pirates. In
addition to Howe, ECU also signed another explosive runner in
Johnnie
Glaspie from Rose Hill, NC.
Those two will compete with veterans
Shawn Furlow, Marquez Grayson and Anthony Scott, plus highly touted
Tennessee transfer Derrell Scott for playing time.
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02/12/2016 01:49 AM |
