Late sister pushing Northwestern’s Jerry Howard

Every productive football-carrier has a motivation spurring their running, something that is either chasing, or pushing, them.

For Northwestern senior Shrine Bowler Jerry Howard, it’s his late older sister. Twenty-two-year old Ja’Quasha Martin, who loved to style hair and would do anything to make her family and friends happy, passed away in January of 2015 after a car accident in Chester County.

“That really pushed me last year to give it all I can and represent her,” Howard said.

The extra celestial nudge from his sister has helped the powerfully built Trojan running back become one of the best in the state the last two years. Howard’s stats might not compare to others across South Carolina high school football, but that’s a product of the Northwestern system that takes whatever the defense serves up. That’s not always a heavy dose of Howard up the gut.

“Good programs try to use all the different tools,” said Trojans coach David Pierce. “We have a lot of tools in the tool bag and we take out what we need when we need it.”

At times in the last three years, Howard has followed up 200-yard rushing efforts with games of just three or four carries.

“I just try to get what I can get. If I get two carries, well, every carry I try to get a touchdown,” he said. “If I only get two carries and they say we’re gonna work on the passing game, I just say okay and rest up and get ready for next week.”

That acceptance has gotten easier for Howard, a starter in Northwestern’s backfield since his sophomore year.

“It was tough at first,” he said. I’d only get one carry and my stats are supposed to be looking like this and this. I realized that some teams will try to stop the pass, so we’ll run it, and some will try to stop the run so we’ll throw. They use me in both now.”

Howard has been there for his team when needed. He piled up 276 yards and three touchdowns in a narrow win over Nation Ford in last year’s 4A Division II Upper State championship, before a 148-yard, three-touchdown effort in the championship blowout of Lexington. He pops stiff-arms into would-be tacklers’ faces and finishes each run with sledgehammer punctuation.

“Put the ball in his hands and he's a beast,” Pierce told The Herald last week after Howard again pounded Nation Ford for 234 total yards of offense and two scores. “We had to do that tonight. The receiving corps is a little depleted so you've got to go to the ground, and he answered the call tonight.”

Howard also has 63 catches in 24 games the last two seasons. His improvement in the passing game - “ I dropped, like, 25 passes my sophomore year!” - made him a coveted college recruit before he committed to East Carolina over the summer. Howard’s reasons for picking East Carolina were clear:

▪ He wants to study medicine and business, both programs offered by ECU. Howard is interested in nursing or becoming a chiropractor.

▪ He wanted to stay close enough to Rock Hill that his parents could come watch him play.

▪ And ECU runs the same style of offense as Northwestern.

Howard already looks like a college running back physically, but he’s working non-stop to hone his skills beyond battering ram mode. He’s focused on speed and cutting, clocking overtime on the weekends with Northwestern strength and conditioning guru James West. Lots of cutting through, and around, rows of cones.

Howard showed all the skills required of the modern running back during the Trojans’ win over South Meck:

Pierce lauded Howard’s ball protection and vision.

“When he gets beyond that first level he does a great job of seeing that cut,” said Northwestern’s head coach.

Howard had plenty of offers to pick through - including Colorado State, Navy, Air Force, Army, Appalachian State, Marshall and Georgia Southern - but some bigger schools held off because of perceived concerns over his top-end speed.

“Game speed, he’s pretty explosive,” Pierce said. “What you put on the clock in the combine and what you do with the ball in your hands are very often two different animals. When he has the ball in his hands, from a fan’s standpoint, it’s fun to watch.”

Nobody has a better view than Ja’Quasha. Howard misses hanging out with his sister at the park, or grabbing a bite to eat. The 6-foot, 205-pound power back prays with her before each game, asking her to watch over him, his family and his teammates.

Then he snaps in his chin strap. Beware the motivated running back.

This story was originally published October 26, 2016 at 2:23 PM with the headline "Late sister pushing Northwestern’s Jerry Howard."