Mustangs readying for Longhorns
Published 4:20 am Wednesday, November 6, 2019
WEST ORANGE – Going for another outright District 10-4A Division I title Friday night, the West Orange-Stark Mustangs will have to battle off some pesky Hamshire-Fannett Longhorns at Hooks Stadium.
The Mustangs are coming off one of their most dominant defensive performance of the season after roughing up Liberty 29-0 on the road last week. The Mustangs limited the Panthers to 99 yards, all on the ground, on 54 carries.
Meanwhile, the Longhorns (6-2, 2-1), who have played so hard this season for second-year head coach Mark Waggoner, dropped a hard-fought down-to-the-wire 27-21 decision to the Silsbee Tigers last week.
There is no doubt that the Mustang defense will be honing in on outstanding Hamshire-Fannett quarterback Marcus Morris.
Morris has picked off from where he left off last year in which he rushed for 1,569 yards and 16 touchdowns and passed for 1,240 yards and 13 scores.
The Longhorn offensive line will look to protect Morris from a hard-charging WO-S defense.
The Mustangs are allowing a mere 187.4 yards a game, 127.3 on the ground and 60.1 in the air.
When Morris isn’t running or throwing the leather, he will get the ball to backs Jordan Joiner, Jaden Zeno and Kyle Saurage and he also likes to get the ball to receiver Evan Viator.
The Mustangs will look to continue to be steady on offense with a lot of weapons.
Quarterback Jerren Terrell has completed 69-of-113 passes for 867 yards and six scores as the Mustangs average 345.3 yards a game, 216.9 on the ground and 128.4 in the air.
Sophomore tailbnack Elijah Gales has darted for 801 yards and 15 TDs on 99 carries. Jayson Ziegler, Jr. (32-157-1), JaQualion Chaney (27-181) and Terrell (37-93-3) also figure in the running game.
Terrell has spread the wealth around to receivers that has included Ziegler (18-139), Chavon Crawford (13-101), Andre Thomas (8-140), Artavious Samuel (7-144) and Gales (9-115).
The Mustangs have dominated the all-time series against the Longhorns, holding a 15-0 series lead and have outscored Hamshire-Fannett 713-92 in the process, including 34-10 last season.
The Longhorns actually outgained WO-S in the loss 215-186. Morris passed for 115 yards and ran for 66 in the loss.