The Howell High School Rebels made it look ridiculously easy. Scoring the first six times they had the football on drives of 80, 74, 64, 70, 35 and 69 yards, the Rebels defeated the Montgomery High School Cougars, 41-18, on Nov. 16 in the first round of the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV state playoffs in Howell.

Montgomery running back Kevin Azimi (above) is met by a gang of Howell tacklers and (right) the Rebels Ryan Handy (5) gives a stiff arm to a Cougar defender as he looks to add yards after a catch during Howell's 41-18 win over Montgomery in the first round of the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV playoffs at Howell on Nov. 16. The Cougars made the trip to Howell from Somerset County.

With the victory, Howell, the No. 2 seed in the Central Jersey Group IV field, will host No. 6 seed Brick Memorial High School on Nov. 21 at 6 p.m.

The teams met less than a month ago in Brick Township with Howell winning the Shore Conference American Division game, 37-27.

The Mustangs advanced to the Central JerseyGroup IV semifinals and a rematch against Howell by defeating the No. 3 seed Hunterdon Central of Flemington.

Speaking after the win over Montgomery, Howell quarterback Jimmy Ryan, who threw five touchdown passes, said, "Everything clicked."

Receiver Phil Adamo, who caught two touchdown passes, said he thinks the performance was a good sign for the Rebels.

"It's a great start for us," Adamo said. "It sends a message to the other teams that we are ready to go."

Montgomery tested the Rebels early. The Cougars, behind the power-running of Kevin Azimi, took the opening kick and marched 52 yards to the Rebels 5 before the drive stalled. Charlie Keri split the uprights on a 24-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead with 5:00 left in the first quarter.

Ryan then engineered an 80-yard drive that struck paydirt. A 22-yard completion to Joe Murphy was the big play of the drive and Ryan polished it off by hitting Adamo on a four-yard scoring pass. Ryan Handy's extra point gave Howell a 7-3 lead. The 80-yard drive took 3:15.

The Cougars answered behind Azimi and a 40-yard pass from quarterback D.J. Ruhlman to J.T. Tartacoff. Azimi's two-yard run capped the drive and with 8:21 left in the second quarter the visitors were up 10-7.

That was no problem for Howell. The Rebels regained the lead, 14-10, after marching 74 yards. A third-and-12 completion from Ryan to Adamo kept the drive alive and a 13- yard strike from Ryan to Adamo went for a touchdown.

Adamo, who had nine catches, said Howell's spread offense is a wide receiver's dream.

"It's great to be a receiver, we spread the ball around," he said. "We practice running patterns against whatever defense (the opponent may play)."

Montgomery shot itself in the foot on its next possession (a holding penalty was costly) and the Cougars punted to Howell at the Rebels' 36 with 2:01 left in the second quarter.

A first down pass to Adamo got the ball to midfield. Two more passes to Adamo got the ball to the 13. Two plays later, Ryan hooked up with Rob Handy on a seven-yard touchdown pass and Howell led 21-10 at halftime.

The Montgomery punt and ensuing drive proved to be the turning point of the game, according to Howell Coach Cory Davies.

With Howell receiving the second half kick, he noted, the Rebels would have the chance to extend the lead. They did just that by driving 64 yards on four plays, all of them by Will Hayes. He had runs of six and 23 yards, caught a pass out of the backfield for 21 yards and went the last 14 yards on a shovel pass from Ryan.

With the lead ballooning to 28-10, Howell had taken Montgomery out of its comfort zone, forcing the Cougars to go to the air.

Ruhlman was sacked by Hayes on the first play of Montgomery's first drive in the second half. On second down, he fumbled while scrambling and Howell linebacker Evan Pinney fell on the ball at the Cougars' 35.

Ryan went for it all when the offense came onto the field and found Murphy deep behind the secondary for a 35-yard touchdown pass that ended the competitive portion of the game.

Howell's final score was a three-yard run by Benton Burdin with :34 left in the third quarter. The 20-point outburst gave Howell a 41-10 lead.

Ryan credited the Rebels' offensive line for the team's productive night.

"The guys up front made the difference," he said. "They blocked (Montgomery's) blitzes and gave me time to throw the ball."

And Ryan knows what to do with the football when he has time. He completed 18-24 passes for 260 yards. The five TD passes lifted his season total to 23 scoring strikes.

Ryan, a senior, said the Rebels played with extra adrenalin because they knew they had to win to advance to the Central Jersey Group IV semifinals.

A storm postponed the state playoff game against Montgomery from Nov. 13 to Nov. 16. Howell improved to 8-1.

Neither Davies or the players thought the delay had any impact on their performance. Adamo said the delay allowed the Rebels to get in some extra practice.

When Howell won the Central Jersey Group IV state title in 2007, the Rebels defeated Montgomery, 49-20, in the semifinals. They are hoping that this year's playoff victory over the Cougars is a good omen for them.

Brick Memorial is the defending Central Jersey Group IV champion.