Local 4 Game of the Week: Belleville vs Howell

In Local 4’s final high school football Game of the Week this season, two undefeated powerhouses will battle for the Kensington Lakes Activities Association Division Championship

The Howell Highlanders will host the Belleville Tigers on Friday, Oct. 25, at 7 p.m.

The game will be streaming live on Local 4+ in partnership with State Champs Sports Network.

Belleville enters this game coming off a 31-0 win versus Fordson.

The Tigers' undefeated season began with two straight road wins against Clarkston (35-28) and Stevenson (44-6). The team followed with wins versus Churchill (65-0), Dearborn (49-22), Livonia Franklin (35-6), Glenn (42-15) and Wayne Memorial (41-0).

Belleville Head Coach Calvin Norman says his team is prepared for the physicality of Howell.

“Howell is old school,” said Norman. “They’re going to come right at you, try to hit you in the mouth and play real football. The football I used to play back in the day.”

The offense is led by number one ranked high school player in the class of 2025 who is committed to LSU, Bryce Underwood.

Underwood was named Gatorade Michigan Football Player of the Year last season after putting up 3,165 yards passing, 47 total touchdowns and only two interceptions. His awareness in the pocket and pass accuracy makes him a dangerous field general. Underwood led Belleville to three straight state championship appearances with the Tigers winning the title in 2021-2022 and 2022-2023.

The defense is led by senior safety Elijah Dotson and senior linebacker Andre Thomas Jr.

Dotson is an impact player in all three phases of the game. He plays wide receiver on offense, safety on defense and returner on special teams. As a football and track athlete, his versatility and athleticism is expected to translate on the collegiate level as he is committed to Pittsburgh as an athlete.

Dotson says the defense will have to be on the lookout for Howell’s trick plays.

“They run a lot of trick plays so we have to look at different formations that they‘re going to run and different players that they have out there,” said Dotson. “We’ve just been watching film all week to prepare for things like that.”

At outside linebacker, Thomas Jr. has a nose for the ball and an affinity for the end zone whether its on offense, defense or special teams. He currently leads the state in forced turnovers with seven including three defensive touchdowns. Thomas Jr. has also reached the end-zone three times as a running back and twice as a kick returner. Thomas Jr. is committed to Central Michigan.

“I‘m a playmaker on defense,” said Thomas Jr. “I’m always around the ball so I cause turnovers. I strip or punch it out and scoop and score so I do whatever I need to do to get the ball.”

Last season, Belleville was undefeated until the state championship game where they faced Southfield Arts and Tech. Belleville lost a close game 36-32 and coach Norman says the state championship loss stuck with the team and served as motivation for this season.

“We still taste it right now,” said Norman. “We don‘t like it so we do have a different mindset going into this season. It‘s been like that from day one but it has also been led by the seniors. It’s been senior-led the whole season so you’ll see a different football team for sure.”

The culture of Belleville football over the recent years is to win state championships. Many of this year’s seniors were apart of the two state championship teams in 2021 and 2022. Thomas Jr. says winning the state title this year would be the sweetest.

“I won freshman and sophomore year but I feel like winning it knowing we left it all leaving high school, that would be the best moment,” said Thomas Jr.

Howell enters this game coming off a 36-14 win against Brighton.

The Highlanders' undefeated season began with a 20-17 win against Hudsonville. The team followed with wins against Canton (49-14), Salem (34-13), Plymouth (48-17), Northville (27-12), Harland (44-33) and Novi (35-21).

Howell plays a physical style of football that is centered around running the ball. Howell Head Coach Brian Lewis says his team will look to stick to its identity of smash mouth football.

“That‘s every week for us,” said Brian Lewis on his team‘s physicality. “Trying to be physical, trying to get off the ball, win the line of scrimmage. Things that withstood the test of time in football, which is run the ball, play action, all those things. We’re just trying to be us and put our best foot forward.”

The offense is led by senior running back Justin Jones behind a strong offensive line.

Jones has 1,131 rushing yards and 19 rushing touchdowns on the season. Jones also has 255 receiving yards, four receiving touchdowns and two passing touchdowns. He is a workhorse for the offense but also plays cornerback on defense. Jones says his team is up for the challenge of facing Belleville.

“It‘s a huge test for us as far as going into the post-season,” said Jones. “This is a great team and we know that and we respect them as that but we’re going to keep it within ourselves and play football.”

The defense is led by senior defensive lineman Bobby Kanka.

Kanka is committed to Michigan and is a finalist for this year’s Anvil Award which goes to the best lineman in high school football. Last season Kanka had 38 total tackles, 16 solo, 8 sacks, 9 tackles for loss, in only 5 and a half games.

Last season Howell finished with a 3-6 record but the team felt they were better than what the record showed. Having a losing record last season motivated the team ahead of this season.

“Last year we were three and six and we didn‘t feel like we were a three and six team,” said Kanka. “Going into the offseason we knew who we were and going into this year we had a lot of haters not expecting us to finish where we did in the KLAA West.”

This game is the perfect clash of contrasting styles. It’s a matchup of Belleville’s speed versus Howell’s power.

Belleville finished first in the KLAA East Division while Howell finished first in the KLAA West Division. The winner of this game will be crowned the KLAA champion. Regardless who wins this game, both teams will play in the post-season as contenders for a state championship.

The game came down to the wire with Belleville leading at the start of the fourth quarter 29-21 after a one-yard rushing touchdown by Thomas Jr.

Howell responded with a long drive highlighted by an explosive run by Jones that got the Highlanders down to the Belleville 20-yard line. Howell stayed consistent on the run attack and got all the way down to the one-yard line but was stopped by the Belleville defense.

Belleville took over on downs operating from their own one-yard line. Howell forced a safety on first down making the score 29-23.

Howell returned the kick to their own 46-yard line with just over 5 minutes left on the clock and all of their timeouts.

Howell stuck to what they were doing the entire game which is run the football but a key catch by Kanka on fourth down kept the drive alive.

Howell got back on the rushing attack and converted another fourth down making it first and goal from the three-yard line with less than 40 seconds left.

Howell ran the ball again and got the ball down to the one-yard line with eight seconds remaining. On second and goal, junior quarterback Preston Barb threw a one-yard touchdown pass to Jones who was wide open off the play action.

The score was tied at 29-29 with two seconds left on the clock and Howell only needed an extra-point to win the game.

Senior kicker Luis Maldonado made the extra-point to put Howell up 30-29.

With only two seconds on the clock, Howell kicked the ball deep and Belleville was tackled on their own side of the field.

Howell won 30-29 for the KLAA Championship.