WEST ORANGE — LeBron James once took his talents to South Beach and Miami.

Well, the West Orange-Stark Mustangs will take a cruise towards Sour Lake Friday as they will look to carry their amazing momentum into a District 12-4A Division II affair against the Hardin-Jefferson Hawks.

The Mustangs (7-0, 1-0), who sit atop the Class 4A state rankings, strolled past the Hamshire-Fannett Longhorns 68-0 last week, holding the woeful Longhorns to just one first down.

WO-S has now outscored their opposition 367-23 for the season.

Meanwhile, the Hawks (4-1, 0-0) had their bye week last week after coming off a big 30-22 road win at Jasper in their last non-district game.

H-J has wins over Buna (40-25), Kelly (49-0) and Hardin (54-0) with their loss coming at Little Cypress-Mauriceville (40-20). The Hawks had Coldspring in their opener but it was canceled due to weather.

The Mustangs’ series with the Hawks, much like the rest of District 12-4A, has been lopsided over the years.

WO-S leads the all-time series 12-0 outscoring the Hawks 617-59, including 48-0 last year.

The Hawks will look to control the clock with their solid running game against a Mustang defense that is allowing a mere 99.7 yards per game and has gave up just three rushing touchdowns. Opponents have just 580 yards rushing on 255 carries.

H-J will check in averaging 288.8 yards a game.

The Hawks have a balanced running game. They are sparked by Mason Murray, who has 373 yards and a touchdown on just 36 carries. Cole Priddy has 296 yards and five TDs on 35 carries while Kelechi Mwachuka has 253 yards and four TDs on 23 totes.

H-J quarterback Brayden Belt has completed 15-of-23 passes for 288 yards and two TDs with his favorite target being Luke Morreale. Opposing quarterbacks have completed just 21-of-69 passes against the Mustangs, who have seven interceptions and no TDs thrown against them.

The Mustang offense has churned out 368.7 yards a game, knowing the numbers could be much higher after posting so many blowout wins.

Quarterback Jack Dallas has completed 62-of-106 passes for 957 yards with 12 TDs. His favorite targets thus far is KJ Miller (15-277-4) and Keion Hancock (13-194-1) with the likes of Jay’len Matthews, Blake Robinson and Dominique Tezeno also heavily involved in the mix.

Tailback Jeremiah Shaw has tore through defenses for 618 yards and 13 TDs on 73 carries. Fellow back Kavyn Cooper has darted for 294 yards and four scores on 39 carries.

H-J’s defense has been solid through five games, allowing just 191.2 yards a game.

The Hawks will return to action next week when they host undefeated Liberty (7-0, 1-0). The Mustangs will have their bye week next week and will be back at home Oct. 28 when they play host to Liberty.

 

 

Series history

2004: WO-S 42, H-J 3

2005: WO-S 68, H-J 13

2006: WO-S 62,H-J 0

2007: WO-S 63, H-J 0

2008: WO-S 40, H-J 0

2009: WO-S 29, H-J 10

2010: WO-S 70, H-J 0

2011: WO-S 58, H-J 6

2012: WO-S 49, H-J 0

2013: WO-S 46, H-J 6

2014: WO-S 42, H-J 21

2015: WO-S 48, H-J 0