WEST ORANGE – It’s only fitting that two teams from District 10-4A Division II will be battling it out for the Class 4A Region III Division II title Friday night when the 10-4A champion West Orange-Stark Mustangs (9-4) tangle with the 10-4A runnerup Silsbee Tigers (9-4) once again at New Caney’s Texan Drive Stadium.

Both teams, after playing two of the toughest non-district schedules in Southeast Texas, have seemed to reach their peak after each one has picked up three impressive playoff victories.

The Mustangs, who have made the Class 4A Division II State Championship Game for four straight seasons including two state titles in 2015 and 2016, are in the Region III Finals for the eighth straight season under the direction of Coach Cornel Thompson (100-16), who claimed his 100^th win in WO-S’ 21-14 win over Jasper last week.

The Mustangs are winners of seven straight games as their 2-4 start seems like a distant memory.

The Tigers have won six straight games after their 24-21 setback to the Mustangs in district play back on Oct. 12 when they slipped to 3-4.

Silsbee, who has outscored its opponents 410-284 for the season, have really exploded offensively in the playoffs, outscoring their three foes Shepherd (52-13), Wharton (56-14) and Giddings (38-21) 146-48.

The young Tigers have certainly be sparked by 1,000-yard back Chris Martin and sophomore quarterback Raymond Foster, who have both been on fire in the postseason.

In last week’s big win over 12-4A champion Giddings (11-2), Foster passed for 211 yards and four touchdowns while Martin shredded the Buffaloes for 154 yards and a TD.

In the previous week against 11-4A champion Wharton the Tigers piled up 512 total yards in a huge win. Backs Martin (9-107), Dralyn Taylor (11-127) and Antonius Arline (12-109) ran through the Wharton defense while Foster passed for 108 yards.

The Mustangs won a thriller over the Tigers back in October when WO-S kicker Angel Ibarra booted a 30-yard game-winning field goal with just six seconds remaining on a night in which WO-S became the most winningest team by percentage in state history.

It was a battle from the opening kick to the final whistle.

Both teams finished with 269 yards that night.

Taylor had 133 yards on 23 carries for the Tigers that night while Arline had 75 yards on eight carries. Foster was just 2-for-7 for 17 yards.

Mustang junior quarterback Tyrone Wilson completed 10-of-16 passes for 109 yards in the win. Mustang back Kavyn Cooper had 97 yards on 21 carries with receiver Brettlin Wiley hauling in four catches for 74 yards.

The Mustangs have outscored their opponents 385-198 for the season and 244-89 in their seven-game winning streak, including 118-20 in playoff wins over Huntington (76-3), Sweeny (21-3) and Jasper (21-14).

The WO-S defense has been stout of late and are allowing just 233.8 yards a game, 157.8 on the ground and 76.1 in the air. They have created some huge turnovers in the playoffs, none bigger than the four that made Jasper cough up last week.

The Mustangs were without the services of Wilson last week against Jasper as he sat out for concussion protocol after receiving a tough hit against Sweeny.

Sophomore Jerren Terrell filled in admirably though as he tossed two big touchdown passes to back Justin Sibley in the win.

Wilson has completed 79-of-146 passes for 1,117 yards and five TDs. Terrell has completed 36-of-76 passes for 515 yards and eight TDs.

The Mustangs will check in averaging 313.8 yards a game, 184.2 on the ground and 129.5 in the air.

Cooper, despite battling a ankle injury throughout a lot of the season, is on a quest for a 1,000-yard campaign after going for 135 yards on 26 carries against Jasper. He now has 879 yards and eight TDs on 149 carries.

Wilson has rushed for 352 yards and six TDs on 86 carries. Right behind him are freshman Elijah Gales (39-356-5), Sibley (56-337-5) and Jamarcus Ross (46-302-4).

Jay’zn Robinson leads the Mustangs with 29 catches for 373 yards and a score. Wiley is the big-play threat with 25 catches for 534 yards and four TDs while Deiondre Hawthorne has 15 catches for 220 yards and two scores.

This will be the 27^th meeting between the two schools with WO-S holding a 23-3 advantage. However, the two teams have only met once in the playoffs when a 6-4 Tiger unit defeated the then 10-0 Mustangs 21-20 in the bidistrict round in 1998.

The winner of the WO-S-Silsbee game will take on either Cuero (12-1) or Navarro (10-2), who are playing for the Region 4 title, in the State Semifinals next week.

The Region 1 title game will pit Glen Rose (11-1) vs. Iowa Park (9-4) while the Region 2 bragging rights will be between Pleasant Grove (11-2) and Pittsburgh (10-3).

 

WO-S MUSTANGS (9-4)

Nederland 19, WO-S 18

WO-S 47, LC-M 0

Newton 21, WO-S 7

Crosby 35, WO-S 24

WO-S 21, Bridge City 0

Jasper 34, WO-S 24

WO-S 24, Silsbee 21

WO-S 35, Hardin-Jefferson 14

WO-S 33, Liberty 24

WO-S 34, Hamshire-Fannett 10

WO-S 76, Huntington 3

WO-S 21, Sweeny 3

WO-S 21, Jasper 14

 

SILSBEE (9-4)

PN-G 48, Silsbee 14

Newton 56, Silsbee 14

Silsbee 48, Bridge City 14

Nederland 21, Silsbee 14

Silsbee 35, Lumberton 13

Silsbee 21, Spring Hill 6

WO-S 24, Silsbee 21

Silsbee 42, Hardin-Jefferson 21

Silsbee 28, Liberty 7

Silsbee 27, Hamshire-Fannett 26

Silsbee 52, Shepherd 13

Silsbee 56, Wharton 14

Silsbee 38, Giddings 21