With a hold from KJ Miller, Chad Dallas puts one through the uprights.
The West Orange-Stark Mustangs had their open week last week. Despite not having a game Coach Cornel Thompson states the Mustangs stayed busy. Several players with sore ankles are getting around better. Liberty was the focus of the coaches to get the players ready. Thompson put up signs in the locker room that it’s an open week, not an off week for the Mustangs.
The Liberty Panthers may have been looking towards this week as they stumbled last Friday against Hardin-Jefferson. Thompson admits the Panthers do have two impressive young men as running backs. Alex Brown is the leading rusher in the district with just under 1600 yards and 16 touchdowns in nine games. Averaging almost 11 yards a carry Tyris Williams gives Liberty a double-barrel running attack. Both Brown and Williams have a big physical line in front of them to open holes and clear the way for them to run the football. Thompson thinks, “It’s going to be an exciting game.”
On defense Liberty returns seven of its starters from last season. Coach Thompson indicates the Mustangs will need to perform well against the experienced Panthers’ defense. Both Williams and Brown do play on the defensive side of the ball, but they do get some rest there during the game. Meril Bunfil is the noseguard who has started a couple of years and weighs close to 300 pounds. “The Panthers having a number of people back and experience on the defensive side of the ball will cause some problems for the Mustangs if we don’t execute properly,” Thompson admits.
A week off has helped heal some of the Mustangs, but Thompson adds they may need to scrape some of the rust off in the early going against Liberty on Friday night. West Orange-Stark needs to play inspired football early since Liberty will come to the game with some intensity and the Mustangs may need to get back into their rhythm. Thompson advises that the timing factor falls off slightly when you have a week off.
Liberty comes to town Friday night to play West Orange-Stark. The Mustangs and Panthers can be heard live on KOGT with the kickoff at 7:30. A replay of the broadcast will be at 7:00 AM on Saturday morning.
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