WOS 0 16 21 0- 37
OF 3 0 0 0 – 3
West Orange-Stark celebrated homecoming Friday night at Dan R. Hooks Stadium as the Mustangs rallied for 37 unanswered points in the second and third quarters to defeat the Orangefield Bobcats 37-3. The Mustangs remain undefeated in district heading into next week’s contest with Hamshire-Fannett which won its only district game so far.
Orangefield (4-4, 1-1) took the opening kickoff and ate more than seven minutes off the first quarter clock. The Bobcats got three first downs on runs by three different runners Matthew Watkins, Blayze Holley, and Austin Moore. Their drive stalled at the Mustangs’ 11. Matthew Rainey booted a 28 yard field goal to give Orangefield a 3-0 advantage with 4:30 left in the first quarter.
The Mustangs almost answered immediately as Kentavious Miller returned the ensuing kickoff 50 yards giving West Orange-Stark (7-1, 2-0) the ball at the Bobcats’ 34. Jack Dallas connected on the first of his four completions on the night to Thomas Wallace on the Mustangs’ first play from scrimmage giving them a first-and-goal at the ten. A run and two incomplete passes setup a fourth-and-8. Dallas’ pass went off the hands of his intended receiver in the end zone spoiling what would have been a touchdown.
After its impressive first drive Orangefield would struggle offensively the remainder of the night netting only five more first downs. Two of those first downs came on the final Bobcat possession as the game was winding down.
Despite enjoying a decisive advantage in field position for the first 20 minutes of the game the Mustangs would only enjoy an 8-3 lead with less than two minutes to play in the half. West Orange-Stark started its first three possessions in Orangefield’s half of the field each time.
The Mustangs took the lead four minutes into the second quarter on a 2-yard run by Justin Brown. Dallas completed a 36-yard pass to Malick Phillips that gave West Orange-Stark a first down at the Bobcats’ 13. Phillips and Brown both had solid gains on the ground which picked up another first down that led to the scoring play. Dallas ran in the two-point conversion as the Mustangs used the swinging gate formation.
Hoping to score the go-ahead touchdown before half Orangefield did get one first down, but then quick kicked on fourth-and-2 at its own 38 with quarterback Watkins getting the ball to roll dead at the Mustangs’ 19. The Mustangs took possession with only 104 seconds to play in the half.
That was more than enough time for Dallas to operate. He threw 11 passes on the drive completing six of them. A 19-yarder to Miller earned the initial first down. An 11-yarder to Jeremiah Shaw gained the second one and moved the ball into Bobcat territory. On fourth-and-10 Wallace caught a pass good for 11 yards and another first down at the 32.
Wallace and Dallas teamed up for the final 32 yards. First Dallas threw an alley-oop type pass which allowed Wallace to out jump his defender for the ball at the 8 yard-line. On the next play Dallas and Wallace hooked up again for the touchdown. Wallace caught four passes for 67 yards. Miller appeared to be running an end around on the point after, but then jump passed the ball to Aric Cormier all alone in the back of the end zone for another two-points. The Mustangs lead 16-3 with 19 seconds left in the half.
During halftime the homecoming court was announced. Senior Eriel Jordan was named the 2015 Homecoming Queen for West Orange-Stark.
Trickery worked for the Bobcats at the start of the second half as Blake Bradley recovered an onside kick for Orangefield. The Bobcats went for it on fourth-and-two, but Moore came up inches short giving the ball over to the Mustangs.
Ironically, the Mustangs began this drive the same way they began their first scoring drive with a 10-yard holding penalty. Then Melech Edwards ripped off two good runs totaling 21 yards and a first down into Orangefield territory. Quinton Chargois picked up two more first downs running the ball to the Bobcats’ 17. The touchdown came on a pass from Dallas to Miller for 11 yards with 6:32 left in the third quarter. Dallas passed to Cormier for the third successful two-point conversion of the night and West Orange-Stark was up 24-3.
Dallas and Payton Robertson combined for the next Mustangs touchdown a 10-yard pass play. On the night Dallas completed 16 of 28 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns giving him 19 on the season. Dallas kicked the point after to make the score 31-3 with 1:59 to play in the third quarter.
The final scoring play came with some second teamers in the game. Robertson replaced Dallas at quarterback and handed to Edwards who popped through a hole up the middle and scampered 39 yards for the touchdown. Edwards was the leading rusher in the game with 63 yards on five carries. The point after kick was missed with the score 37-3 and just 8 seconds left in the third period. The fourth quarter was scoreless.
Next Friday night the Orangefield Bobcats hope to bounce back at home against the Liberty Panthers. The West Orange-Stark Mustangs must travel to Hamshire-Fannett to play the Longhorns and their star quarterback Kendrick King. The Longhorns edged Hardin-Jefferson on Friday night in their first district game of the season.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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