USJ’s Howard continues his development at QB

Corben Howard wasn’t supposed to be the starting quarterback for University School of Jackson’s football team two years ago.

But a series of events that began early in the 2022-23 offseason created the circumstances where he got the nod to be the starter last season, and while it took a few games for things to catch on in 2023, Howard seems to have grown accustomed to his role for the Bruins.

“This season has been great so far because I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited to play football with anybody more than I am with this team,” Howard said. “Every week, I can’t wait until Friday.”

When the waiting is done each week, Howard and the Bruins’ offense make the most of their opportunities so far this season.

He completed four of eight passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns while carrying the ball once on a 68-yard run for another score in the season-opener at Peabody.

“I think if you’d ask anyone on this team who was going to score on a touchdown run that long on the first play of the season before that game, no one would’ve guessed me,” Howard said. “I’m not the fastest guy, but I like to think I can get us yards if we need them.

“We didn’t really need 68 yards and a score that fast, but the field was open for me, so I went with it. And [USJ running back Noah Spencer], he got in front of me blocking for me and I was able to get all the way to the end zone.”

Things continued to come together last week at Union City as USJ jumped out to another big lead in the first half and rode it to another win by nearly enough points to have the clock running via the TSSAA’s mercy rule.

“Nosh and our other running backs were work horses last week that refused to be stopped,” Howard said. “And the receivers have done great so far at getting open and going up and getting the ball when it comes to them.

“All of us are clicking together well right now because a lot of us have put in a ton of time to get our timing.”

Howard’s development as a quarterback really began to take off during an unexpected time last season when the Bruins were playing at Northpoint Christian.

“Our strategy that night was to run the ball, but they were not letting that happen at all,” Howard said. “So the coaches said, ‘OK, ‘let’s change things up and see if they can stop us.’

“And for whatever reason, things seemed to really click for me that night.”

Howard could see the routes his guys were running and could get the passes where he needed to for the receivers to be in position to make the grab.

The Bruins didn’t win that game, but the next week against ECS at homecoming, Howard continued to see the field in a different way, and they won big to secure a top-three finish in the region.

Howard and different guys from the team spent time throughout the offseason getting on the field and throwing the ball around. While that worked on timing, he said that also helped the cohesiveness between him and them on varying levels.

“Most of the time, it was just going out on the field on Saturday afternoons throwing it around,” Howard said. “But if you do that enough and you’re not doing it the wrong way and developing any bad habits, then doing stuff like that will hopefully only help you.”

The Bruins are home for the first time this season this week, welcoming their neighbors from Trinity Christian into Carlock Stadium.

“TCA has a good defense, so we need to be ready to play the best we can,” Howard said. “The coaches tell us to never worry about the scoreboard, to always play like it’s 0-0 and keep our foot on the gas.

“So no matter what the score is, hopefully you’ll see us play the same way no matter what.”

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news