By Caleb Adams

Leader Correspondent

 

SOUR LAKE – The West Orange-Stark Mustangs took down the Hardin-Jefferson Hawks 35-14 in District 10-4A Division I action at Hawks Stadium on Friday night.

The Mustangs (4-4, 2-0) passing game, lead by quarterback Tyrone Wilson, was what put WO-S over the top of the Hawks all night long.

With big play potential on any play, the Hawks couldn’t account for Wilson’s stellar start to the game, as he threw seven straight completions to start. The Mustangs also succeeded on multiple big plays through the air and ground.

Wilson completed 12-of-19 passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns. The Mustangs outgained the Hawks 328-176.

The Mustang defense was able to stop the Hawks split-t offense and limit them severely all night long, which was another big reason the Mustangs took a big lead in the second quarter.

The Mustangs started off fast and hard with a two-play touchdown drive that only took the first 45 seconds of the game to complete. Wilson passed to Brettlin Wiley, who had six catches for 103 yards, for nine yards on the first play and then back Kayven Cooper took over. Cooper ran down the sideline for a 40-yard touchdown scamper. After the PAT the Mustangs went up 7-0 with 11:16 left in the first.

After a muffed punt by the Mustangs, the Hawks took over in enemy territory and took full advantage of it. Christian Bowie, running back for the Hawks, showed up this drive with two back-to-back first downs to set up the touchdown. On a trick play, Justin Smith took it in from the 4 to even the score. After the PAT the game the game was tied at 7-7 in the first quarter of play. Bowie led the Hawks with 64 yards on 11 carries.

WO-S responded with another touchdown in the second quarter, to take back the lead. Ja’marcus Ross would break open the drive with a 22-yard run to set up a one-yard quarterback sneak by Wilson.. After the PAT went through, the Mustangs led 14-7 with eight minutes left in the half.

The Mustangs stopped the Hawks and then extended their lead with a long 51-pass from Wilson to Wiley as WO-S only needed three plays to score on the drive drive, to extend the lead and put the Hawks in a hole just before the half. After the Angel Ibarra PAT went through, the Mustangs led 21-7 with five minutes left in the half.

Neither team would score again before the half, but the Hawks defense did make some huge stops to prevent the Mustangs from taking the game over completely but the Mustangs still entered halftime with a 14-point cushion to work with.

After a few three-and-outs from both sides, the Mustangs scored the first points of the second half thanks to the wonderful passing game and Wilson’s accuracy on the night. Wilson would complete a pass to Deiondr’e Hawthorne from 16 yards for another touchdown, and to Wiley again on a big play before. After the PAT the Mustangs were up 28-7 with five and a half minutes left in the third quarter.

The Mustangs put a figurative bow on the game with another passing touchdown, this time from backup quarterback Jerren Terrel to Chavon Crawford from 28 yards out. After the PAT the Mustangs led 35-7 with 4:33 left in the game and it was all but over by this point.

Hardin Jefferson would fire back with another touchdown of their own. After a solid drive and getting the passing game involved, the Hawks were able to sneak one in from the two yard line as quarterback Westen Nugent pushed it in for the score with 0:55 remaining.

The Mustangs return home next week for a big game against the Liberty Panthers (5-2, 1-1) while the Hawks will have their bye week. Liberty fell to Silsbee (5-4, 2-1) 28-7 Friday.