By Gregory Lloydon Coleman, Howard University News Service
The Howard University men’s football team hopes to take it all next season after giving up a 16-7 lead over the Florida A&M University Rattlers and losing 30-26 in the 2023 Cricket Wireless Celebration Bowl in Atlanta.
The football team had an outstanding season that saw the Bison bounce back from losses to Hampton, Eastern Michigan, Northwestern, Harvard and South Carolina State University. It was especially a phenomenal season for a few graduate students such as quarterback Quinton Williams, defensive lineman Darrian Brokenburr, wide receiver Wayne Dennis Jr., defensive backs Ray Williams, Lance McMillan and Clayton Perrin, and defensive lineman Jevin Jackson, who was one of the energetic motors of the defense.
These graduate students were on the team in 2019 when the Bison were looked at as a laughing stock in the MEAC and stuck throughout their tenure just to be able to see the progression from worst place in the MEAC to first place. They built a foundation that other players are willing to follow.
At the quarterback position it will be a tossup, but it is looking like redshirt freshman Jay Scroggins will be taking the snaps next season in the 2024 campaign for the Bison. He will have a plethora of support around him with the return of Richie Ilarazza, considered a surehanded receiver who would make the big-time catches when they counted, and Nah’Shawn Hezekiah, who will look to replace the playmaking abilities of senior wide receiver Kasey Hawthorne if he does not come back for a fifth year. Hawthorne, by the way, was one of the leading scorers for the Bison this past season and made a lot of big-time plays in the passing game.
For the ground game, Eden James, son of Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Edgerrin James, will be coming back for his junior campaign alongside Ian Wheeler, who has one of the most lethal spin moves in the game. It will be exciting to see how the Bison will fare on the ground game.
Expect speculation about the dreaded transfer portal as the Bison will not want to lose names such as Kenny Gallop Jr., who was outstanding for the Bison defense and was the leading tackler. Gallop would be a tough piece to replace. It is rumored that a plethora of other talent may be entering the portal to try their luck at another institution, perhaps with hopes of making it to the National Football League.
A recruitment class with talent is much needed with the transfer portal being a reality in collegiate sports and with the MEAC looking at the target on Howard’s back. Luckily for the Bison, they have already began making moves with the signing of recruits such as Ja’Quavion Smith from Forest Hill High School in Marshville, North Carolina, Rufus Ferguson II from Sickles High School in Tampa, Florida, running back Anthony Reagan Jr. from Woodbury High School in Woodbury, New Jersey, and defensive back Charles “CJ” Dale Jr. from Sebring High School in Lake Placid, Florida, just to name a few.
The Bison will need to shore up their talent for next season, because they will have the likes of NCCU looking for revenge for taking their MEAC championship and dropping 50 points on them. That is a rivalry that is starting to build up. Morgan State will also look to gain revenge.
Howard is also going to look to defeat Hampton for the first time since 2014 and avenge the 17 point blown lead the Bison had in their defeat to the Pirates in the Truth and Service Classic.
Finally, the Bison want to return to the Celebration Bowl next year — this time with hopes of winning the Black College Football National Championship.
Gregory Lloydon Coleman is a reporter for HUNewsService.com.