The impressive shutout string for West Orange-Stark was snapped last week on of all things a penalty. Thompson was happy with the defense last week stopping Silsbee five times in the ball game on fourth down, several times deep in Mustang territory. Coach Cornel Thompson is interested to see how the Mustangs’ defense responds when they finally do give up a score. He wonders if they will pout and hang their heads which might lead to another score or will the Mustangs get back up and play strong.
West Orange-Stark will travel to Nacogdoches this week to play the Kennedale Wildcats, a team located just south of Fort Worth. Thompson indicates the Wildcats run the Wing-T which is a variation from the Slot-T. The Wildcats run many of the same plays as do several district opponents of the Mustangs who use the Slot-T. They are a running football team led by their fullback Jaden Knowles a returning starter from last year. He is a bruiser at 230 pounds with 4.5 speed in the forty. Knowles is averaging 6 yds. per carry while sophomore Deshaun Kirven averages 7.5 ypc. As a team they’ve only thrown the ball 22 times in four games with 8 completions for 178 yds.
At the start of the season Kennedale was ranked fourth in the state in Class 4A. Despite two losses the Wildcats are still ranked eleventh in the state. “A pretty good football team,” Coach Thompson exclaims. They are a 4A Division I team that competes in District 5-4AI.
The Wildcats are very strong on defense with a lot of returning starters back from last year’s 12-1 playoff team according to Thompson. At 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds Baron Browning is a force to reckon with in the middle of the Kennedale defense. He is joined by nine other starters on defense plus several other defenders who saw frequent playing time on last year’s Wildcats’ defense. Browning is tied for the tackle lead with senior Gjemar Daniels.
Thompson believes Kennedale will be a true test for West Orange-Stark. He compares the Wildcats very much with Richmond Foster which was a strong opponent for the Mustangs the last two seasons before the start of district. Thompson states, “It’s the type of contest that we need at this time.”
The first game of district is only a week away. Coach Thompson believes this will be a good test for the Mustangs in preparation for the start of district. The coach has confidence in the West Orange-Stark kicking game which may give it the edge in the ball game. The key Thompson says is the offense executing well the whole game like they did in the second half against Silsbee.
The West Orange-Stark Mustangs play the Kennedale Wildcats at Nacogdoches’ Dragon Stadium Friday night. KOGT will broadcast the game live with pregame at 6pm and kickoff beginning at 7:30 on Friday night with the rebroadcast of the game Saturday morning at 7:00.
Pictured Above: Keion Hancock
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