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| Kyle Howes can often be found in the end zone, and you'll find his name on a pretty high part of the All-Region 2 team when it's released later today. Photo by Caleb Williams, d3photography.com |
By Logan Moyer
for D3sports.com
When Kyle Howes arrived on campus at Susquehanna in 2021, he fully expected to soon line up behind center to throw passes for the River Hawks.
Howes, a 6-0, 185-pound player from Ijamsville, Maryland, wasn’t very used to sitting on the bench. He was a four-year starter at the quarterback position at Urbana High School, showing a penchant for escaping pressure to scramble and hit receivers downfield.
He would find his way onto the field soon enough for the River Hawks – but it wasn’t behind center.
He saw then-junior Michael Ruisch, Susquehanna’s future all-time leader in career passing yards, firmly in control of the QB1 position. It wasn’t long before Howes found himself in head coach Tom Perkovich’s office, asking to line up a different skill position – wide receiver.
“When I came in, I saw that our quarterback was pretty good,” Howes said of Ruisch. “I just wanted to get on the field. I don’t like to sit; I want to play. No one comes to college wanting to sit all four year. You want to get on the field as soon as possible.”
It wasn’t that crazy of a thought. Howes had played the position some growing up, but moved behind center once he started junior high.
Learning under wide receivers coach Mike Wiand – now Susquehanna’s play caller and offensive coordinator – he didn’t see the field much the rest of his rookie season. His sophomore campaign, however, was a much different story. He exploded out of seemingly nowhere, hauling in 57 passes for 834 yards and 9 TDs while scoring three additional times as a kick returner and runner – good enough to earn a spot on the All-Centennial Conference First Team as both a wideout and specialist as well as a nod to D3football’s All-Region Second Team as the latter.
“We had already been talking about it at that point, because we were using him in some wildcat stuff, and he was eating that up late in games,” Perkovich said. “We probably should have moved him over earlier, to be honest. He’s obviously grabbed onto it and learned the position.”
Now, with the River Hawks only two wins away from reaching the Stagg Bowl for the first time in program history, Howes sits second in virtually every receiving category at the school, needing only three more receptions to reach 200 on his career.
“When we recruited him, we said that if he couldn’t be the quarterback he athletically needed to be at this level, we knew he could transition and play receiver,” Perkovich said. “I’m just really proud of Kyle for him sticking it out here and finishing it.”
Last year brought more success, again earning All-Region honors (this time as a receiver) as well as being named the inaugural Landmark Conference Offensive Player of the Year after bringing in 64 passes for 819 yards and 11 total touchdowns.
It was good enough of a season for Howes to consider looking for opportunities elsewhere. As with many 2021 high school graduates, COVID-19 impacted his recruiting in a negative way. He entered the transfer portal in late November but ultimately decided to stay in Selinsgrove only two weeks later.
“I got some pretty good looks, but one day, we were hanging out (in town) with our fifth years, and I just realized that these are my brothers,” Howes said. “Life is greater than football. Those relationships will last a lifetime. That was what ultimately decided for me that I was going to stay.”
Howes admitted that he’s always been the type to show how he’s feeling. He’s made a conscientious effort to work on his body language, something that often shone through after the ball didn’t go his way.
Susquehanna quarterback Josh Ehrlich had just transferred in from Division I Marist, and was learning the ropes of playing the position at the collegiate level. There were times where Howes was open downfield, but Ehrlich elected to either to tuck it and run or threw the ball away entirely.
“Kyle’s a great kid, but you’re right, he does wear his emotions on his sleeve. There’s no doubt. When things are good, when things aren’t good, you know when he’s frustrated,” Perkovich said. “We have to reel that in sometimes with him, but I think that in the end of the day, he’s a competitor. I think that’s why he’s like that.”
Howes and Ehrlich grew their connection through the 2023 season and the ensuing offseason, which has shown. Ehrlich’s now putting up numbers comparable to most of the top signal callers in the division, earning a nod as one of 18 Gagliardi Trophy semifinalists.
Howes, meanwhile, has had a career year, hitting the 70-reception mark for the first time while totaling 1,130 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns.
“I think he’s an All-American all the way,” Perkovich said of Howes. “I know there’s guys out there with better stats, but the impact he makes on the game; what people don’t always look at is how he plays against the best.”
Howes has a habit of delivering big-time performances on the biggest stages. He recorded a career-high reception figure in Susquehanna’s 2022 first-round playoff loss to Utica before delivering a career-high 142 receiving yards the next season as SU knocked off a ranked Cortland team on the road. On Saturday, he overcame frequent double and triple teams to finish with 10 catches for 113 yards as the River Hawks upset the top-seeded Johnnies in the third round.
“Some people look at the overall stats, but it’s really how you play against the best people,” Perkovich said. “That’s how we look at it here, and he’s done that time after time again.”
Especially in his junior season, Howes had a tendency to celebrate his scores a little bit too much, frequently resulting in unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. One, in the aforementioned Cortland game, even worked out in Susquehanna’s favor.
After a Howes TD and subsequent penalty in the fourth quarter, the River Hawks kicked off from their own 20-yard line, forcing the Cortland returner to field the kick. A big hit forced the ball loose, which was recovered by the River Hawks and soon turned into the game-winning field goal.
“Sometimes I do the celebrations, but other times I’m just too excited to really do anything too crazy. I’ll be surrounded by my teammates, just hyped that we scored.”
Earlier this season in a blowout win over Juniata, Howes brought in a touchdown pass and found himself standing right in front of his mother, Kim, who was down on the field taking pictures. He initially reached out to hand the ball to her, but thought the better of it, knowing the action would have resulted in yellow laundry littering the turf.
“My family has supported me my entire life in sports, showing up to everything, taking me to everything – I'm forever grateful for that,” he said. “But my mom knows that until the clock hits zero, I’m not going to talk to her, unless we’re blowing them out.
“She knows I’ll give her a little hug pregame.”
Logan Moyer is a freelance writer who covers primarily high school and college sports. He can be reached on Twitter/X @ByLoganMoyer or via email at moyerrl@susqu.edu.