Extending their winning streak to 39 games, the West Orange-Stark Mustangs have advanced to the final four for the fourth straight season. A victory this Friday night would put West Orange-Stark in the state championship game for the fourth consecutive year.
Coach Cornel Thompson gave an update on the injury status for the Mustangs. No one was seriously injured in the victory over Salado last week. There are a few walking wounded for West Orange-Stark, but Thompson advises, “This is the fifth round of the playoffs you’ve got to play. All these guys that think they’re hurt, they’re mistaken they’re not hurt. So, you got to go.”
The opponent in the semi-final round will be the Wimberley Texans. Thompson pointed out the Texans like to throw the football and are very good offensively. Wimberly runs the Spread and almost nothing else. Thompson indicated he has seen the Texans run only one play from under center in the films he has watched on them. The Texans will run twin receivers on both sides or will sometimes use triple receivers to one side of the field. Wimberley averages over 45 points a game entering the contest with the Mustangs.
Quarterback Jordan Weeks may be the best quarterback West Orange-Stark has faced this season. Weeks stands 6’4” and has a rifle for an arm. He has thrown for over 4,000 yards good for 49 touchdowns with just one interception. If Weeks has one handicap, he may not be much of a scrambler, so the Mustangs will want to put pressure on him.
Weeks is not a lone ranger for the Texans, he has some talented teammates on offense. Running back Thomas Carruthers is an often, overlooked ball carrier for Wimberley. The Texans’ passing game sets up the run very effectively. Carruthers averages nine yards a carry, has picked up over 1500 yards, and scored 22 rushing touchdowns in Wimberley’s first 14 games.
The Texans have five receivers with at least twenty receptions on the season giving Weeks plenty of targets to throw the ball. Cade Stoever has 73 catches from the slot receiver position good for 1163 yard and 14 scores. Another dangerous pass catcher is Gavin Martinez with 49 receptions for over a thousand yards and 12 touchdowns. A third wideout Wyatt Mann has eleven touchdown receptions. “They can go down the field with it vertically, and they’ve been scoring a lot of points,” Thompson reported.
Wimberley is known for its offense, but Coach Thompson said West Orange-Stark will not underestimate the Texans on defense. The Texans run a 50 Defense like the Mustangs, but will also switch to a 4-2-5 and will jump to a 3-3 Stack at times. Although not as impressive as the offense’s numbers, the Wimberley defense is yielding just over 20 points a game and play hard.
For the third week in a row the Mustangs will face a dominating noseguard in the Texans’ Geno Albini. He is very active and cause opposing offensive lines a lot of problems trying to block him. Several of the stars on offense also line up on the defensive side of the ball for Wimberley. Stover plays in the defensive secondary, and Carruthers lines up at defensive end.
Nobody is left in the playoffs that does not deserve to be there according to the coach. The Texans are here for a reason, they are good. Thompson responded, “And we’re here for a reason so we need to answer the bell.”
The saying goes, offense wins games and defense wins championships. The Mustangs have their sites set on the latter, and Thompson wants to see a complete team effort this week against the Texans. Defense is what has got West Orange-Stark where it is. Struggles with the kicking game almost proved costly two weeks ago. Last week the offense struggled with many missed blocking assignments. Thompson said only center Aldrik Mims and Ja’Corry Brady had good games in the offensive line against Salado.
One step from the state championship Coach Thompson wants to have the offense, defense, and kicking games clicking. “We’ve got to get those three phases of the game together if we’re going to advance or obtain the goals that we have in mind for this football team,” Thompson concluded.
The West Orange-Stark Mustangs play the Wimberley Texans on Friday night at 7:30 in Katy’s Legacy Stadium. The game will be carried live on KOGT with a replay of the broadcast at 7:00 AM on Saturday.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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Semifinal Schedule
Class 6A, Division I
Cedar Ridge (13-1) vs. Allen (14-0), 2 p.m. Saturday, McLane Stadium
Lake Travis (12-2) vs. Katy (12-0), 3 p.m. Saturday, Alamo Stadium in San Antonio
Class 6A, Division II
Westlake (14-0) vs. Cy-Fair (13-0), 3 p.m. Saturday, NRG Stadium
Waco Midway (14-0) vs. Longview (13-1), 6 p.m. Saturday, Eagle Stadium in Allen
Class 5A, Division I
Manvel (13-0) vs. Angleton (13-0), 7:30 p.m. Friday, NRG Stadium
Denton Ryan (14-0) vs. Highland Park (13-1), 9 p.m. Friday, AT&T Stadium
Class 5A, Division II
Aledo (14-0) vs. Mansfield Legacy (12-2), 2 p.m. Saturday, Pennington Field in Bedford
McCallum (14-0) vs. College Station (12-2), 7 p.m. Saturday, NRG Stadium
Class 4A, Division I
Stephenville (12-2) vs. Kennedale (13-1), 5 p.m. Friday, AT&T Stadium
Carthage (14-0) vs. Waco La Vega (14-0), 7 p.m. Friday, Ford Center in Frisco
Class 4A, Division II
Graham (14-0) vs. Texarkana Pleasant Grove (14-0), 7 p.m. Thursday, Ford Center in Frisco
Wimberley (13-1) vs. West Orange-Stark (12-0), 7:30 p.m. Friday, Legacy Stadium in Katy
Class 3A, Division I
Brock (12-2) vs. Kemp (13-1), 7 p.m. Thursday, AT&T Stadium
Rockdale (11-3) vs. Yoakum (13-1), 7 p.m. Friday, FCU Stadium in Cypress
Class 3A, Division II
Canadian (14-0) vs. Gunter (14-0), 7 p.m. Friday, Vernon High School
Newton (13-0) vs. Boling (9-3), 7:30 p.m. Friday, Texan Drive Stadium in Porter
Class 2A, Division I
Stratford (13-1) vs. Mart (13-1), 7 p.m. Thursday, Snyder High School
San Augustine (14-0) vs. Refugio (12-1), 7 p.m. Thursday, FCU Stadium in Cypress
Class 2A, Division II
Wellington (13-1) vs. Muenster (14-0), 7 p.m. Thursday, Vernon High School
Tenaha (14-0) vs. Burton (13-1), 7 p.m. Thursday, Crockett High School
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