Mustangs put the hurt on Panthers
Published 11:46 pm Friday, November 3, 2017
By Caleb Adams
Leader Correspondent
LIBERTY — The West Orange-Stark Mustangs entered Friday night’s game against the red-hot Liberty Panthers wanting to solidify their season and move onto the playoffs with hopes of yet another state title.
Well, mission accomplished as they blew out the Panthers 32-0 to inch closer to yet another District 12-4A Division II crown.
The Mustangs (7-0, 3-0) dominated the Panthers (7-2, 3-1) in every face after Liberty had exploded for 52 points in a win over Hardin-Jefferson last week.
The Panthers only had 33 yards of total offense in the first half and that easily told the story of the first two quarters as WO-S led 14-0 at intermission, The Mustangs were able to keep the explosive J.J. Slack at bay and with that they took the early lead. Slack had over 300 yards rushing in the win over H-J last week.
However, on Friday, the dynamic speedster was held to a mere 20 yards on 18 carries. The Panther only mustered 72 yards on 42 carries with their vaunted double Wing-T formation.
The Panthers would total just 72 yards and gave up an interception on offense and were held scoreless by the Mustang defense, who was on their “A game” all night. The Panthers attempted four passes with no success.
WO-S can clinch the 12-4A Division II title outright yet again next week when they play host to the Orangefield Bobcats (3-3, 2-1)
The Mustangs jump on top early thanks to the solid running game. Kayven Cooper and Chaka Watson drove 50 yards combined on the ground and Watson punched it in from one yard out for the score. After the PAT the Mustangs go up 7-0 with a minute in the first quarter left.
Cooper finished with 105 yards on the ground while Watson had 71 as the Mustangs pounded out 214 yards on the ground on the night.
The Mustangs found another touchdown in the second quarter thanks to Watson finding speedy receiver Jarron Morris for a solid 14-yard pass to set up a Cooper nine-yard touchdown run. Morris had three catches for 23 yards on the night. After the PAT the Mustangs went up 14-0 heading into the second half.
The Mustangs opened up the second half with a touchdown drive starting from midfield. The run game from Cooper and Watson continued to produce for WO-S and it had no signs of slowing down. Cooper once again found the end zone, this time from five yards out. Jarron Morris converted a two-point conversion to make the score 22-0 with 6:30 left in the third quarter.
The Mustangs piled up more points on with another Watson touchdown run, this time from 15 yards out on a read option as the Mustangs led 29-0 with 9:22 in the fourth quarter .
WO-S put a lot of their second teamers in and kicker Chad Dallas converted a 29-yard field goal through to make the score 32-0 late in the fourth quarter to seal the deal for the Mustangs.
WO-S 32,
Liberty 0
WOS LIB
First downs 14 4
Rushes-yards 30-214 42-72
Passing 44 00
Comp-Att-Int 5-9-1 0-4-1
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 4-40 1-10
Individual Statistics
Rushing: WOS Chaka Watson 8-71, Kayven Cooper 13-105, Justin Sibley 2-22, Ronaldo Rose 1-8, Tyrone Wilson 3-4, Javon Ross 1-4; LIB Jerimiah Guillroy 5-9, J.J. Slack 18-20, Keegan Turner 8-21, River Lucy 9-21
Passing: WOS Chaka Watson 5-9-1 44; LIB Keegan Turner 0-3-1, Jerimiah Guillroy 0-1-0
Receiving: WOS Jarron Morris 3-23, Blake Robinson 1-16, Kaleb Ramsey 1-5;