Notre Dame landed the first blow, but Howard punched back. Hard.

After Fighting Irish senior Brendan Ducevic corralled a blocked punt in the end zone for a touchdown less than two minutes into Friday night’s game, the Hustlin’ Tigers were relentless. Howard’s impressive 48-18 victory was magnified by the rocky start — and in some ways triggered by it.

“I told them to stay up,” Howard senior quarterback Michael Bryant said. “We can’t get down when something like that happens, because we always believe we can win.”

Bryant scored on a 2-yard run to match Notre Dame’s opening score, but it was an overpowering defense that allowed Howard (2-0, 1-0 3-3A) to find its stride. After the specials-team touchdown, Notre Dame’s best offensive play in the first quarter was an incomplete pass. Five Irish runs netted negative-16 yards.

“Any time you play a Charlie Wiggins-coached team, you have to be prepared for anything,” Howard coach Alvin Tarver said. “After that first series, I was really nervous. That’s not the best start I can think of, but we have faced some adversity and kept our composure pretty well.”

As the defense punished the young Irish offense, Howard unleashed its bevy of playmakers. Five Hustlin’ Tigers scored, including Jahron Reynolds, who capped Howard’s scoring with a 10-yard run and energized the crowd with a 54-yard punt return that stretched the lead to 28-10 right before halftime.

“I’ve been returning kicks since my freshman year,” said Reynolds, a senior who finished with 143 total yards. “I was just trying to give us good field position, but I got a couple of really good blocks. You can’t ever score with help from your teammates.”

Reynolds’ return allowed Howard to get comfortable, and senior Marcus Shropshire gave the rest of the Howard starters the chance to relax. Shropshire busted two long touchdown runs — scoring on a 68-yarder and a 36-yarder — within a five-minute stretch of the third quarter that put the Irish away.

John David Bruce’s 32-yard fumble return for a touchdown closed the scoring for Notre Dame (0-3, 0-1) and provided the final margin.

“It was an exciting start, but we allowed them to get excited and get going,” Wiggins said. “We made some mistakes, but they’re a good team that has gotten a lot better and has a lot of experience.”

Wiggins’ young Irish — there are 11 seniors on the roster, and freshman Bradley Stephens handled most of the quarterbacking duties — were forced to play the final two and a half quarters without Dusevic, who was ejected midway through the second quarter. Wiggins said that according to TSSAA rules, Dusevic will not be allowed to play next week when the Irish play at Meigs County.

Howard will face East Ridge next week.

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