MUSTANG INSIDER - Meri Elen Jacobs

The Mustangs stormed into Sour Lake Friday night and beat Hardin Jefferson, 62-0, in Hawk Stadium, upping their shutout number to six for the season. The offense finished the game with 389 total yards and the defense held the Hawks to 16 total yards and six first downs.

“I thought that our guys played as hard as we asked them to,” Head Coach Cornel Thompson said. “We executed on offense and defense had a pretty dang good night. We made plays on offense, defense and with our kicking game.”

The Mustangs proved right out of the chute that the “No Fly Zone” that HJ boasted about was not going to stop the passing game. Quarterback Jack Dallas connected with KJ Miller on a 47 yard pass. Seven plays later, Mandel Turner-King did the honors, scoring his first touchdown.

The defense went to work and as the Hawks appeared to be moving the ball, notching three first downs on their first drive, the Chain Gang knocked the ball loose and Ronald Carter was able to pick it up and carry it 34 yards to set up the second touchdown. Two plays later Dallas hit KJ Miller for the second touchdown. Miller also scored the two point conversion to give WO-S a 14-0 lead.

The Mustangs scored again on their third possession, when sophomore Kavyn Cooper broke through and ran 29 yards for the score. Late in the second quarter, Dallas connected with Miller for a 10 yard touchdown. Kicker Chad Dallas’ PAT was good and the Mustangs led, 28-0, heading into the locker room for the half.

It didn’t take long in the third quarter for the Mustangs to score as the HJ deep snapper sailed the ball over the punter’s head and WO-S took over at the one. Turner-King scored and Chad Dallas’ PAT was good, as the Mustangs went up, 35-0. Things only got worse for the Hawks as sophomore Teshaun Teel picked off a HJ pass and returned it 34 yards for six more.

Late in the third quarter Dallas hit Dominique Tezeno on a six yard strike for a touchdown. Freshman Paulino Santos’ PAT was good, putting WO-S up 48-0. The Mustangs didn’t let up as junior Chaka Watson took over for Dallas. Cooper scored on the Mustangs last two possessions, from 7 and 46 yards out. Cooper finished the night with 107 yards on 6 carries while Jeremiah Shaw had 108 yards on 12 carries. Miller was the leading receiver with 5 catches for 82 yards.

“We have this game behind us so we are now 2-0 in district,” Thompson said. “This is our open week, not our off week. We are going to work on improving some areas in our game that are a little lack luster and we have some bumps and bruises that need to heal.”

The Mustangs will face Liberty next week at home, who is currently undefeated. Liberty will play Hardin Jefferson in Liberty Friday and the Mustangs coaches will be there to watch.

“We’ve been looking at them on film but we will get a better idea on them when we watch them play Hardin Jefferson Friday night,” Thompson said. “I said from the beginning of the season that Liberty would be the most improved because the number of athletes that were returning on both sides of the ball. And they are proving it right now. They are a pretty good team.

”The combined subvarsity team beat Hardin Jefferson at home Thursday night, 34-0. Jalin Mims started the scoring with a 16 yard touchdown pass from Chavon Crawford. Ja’Vonn Ross scored on the two point conversion. Tyrone Wilson scored twice on 3 yard touchdown runs and Mims caught a pass for two more points. Jay’zyn Robinson scored on a 30 yard touchdown run. Justin Sibley returned a punt for 72 yards for six points. Offensive standouts were Wilson, Mims, Robinson, Bruce White and Jordan Garrett. Defensive standouts were Terron Brown, Lande Butler, Steven Wilkerson and Sibley. The combined team will play in Liberty next Thursday with a tentative 5:30 start time.

Next Friday will be Pink Out and senior night. Wear pink and come early to celebrate the seniors during their last game at home.