Coming off its bye week West Orange-Stark gained another win last week against Hardin-Jefferson. Coach Cornel Thompson evaluated the Mustangs performance in the victory as showing rustiness from not playing for a week. He did grade the team’s play overall as pretty good especially in the middle of the game, sandwiched between a slow start and a little too relaxed at the end when the victory appeared secure.
The status of Kavyn Cooper and Justin Sibley who both limped off the field in the first half of the game is still somewhat a question mark. Cooper and Sibley have ankle injuries. Thompson said, “I don’t know what the outcome is right now whether they’ll be able to play or not, we shall see.”
Friday night West Orange-Stark has a key district game with Liberty. Thompson looked at the old school Panthers’ offense. They use a Double Wing with two tight ends and two wing backs. Thompson calls it an old barn yard offense, but quickly adds it is very effective.
The offense Liberty employs is a ball control, run dominated scheme. The Panthers will use their big offensive line to lean on defenders for four quarters to wear them down. “If you don’t do something about the run you will not see a pass the entire night,” Thompson observed.
The Panthers are experienced in the backfield. J. J. Slack is a versatile runner who scored 10 touchdowns and rushed for over 1300 yards last season. Jeremiah Guillory has been a starter for three years at Liberty. He scored 19 touchdowns last year. Keegan Turner runs the offense at quarterback for the Panthers.
Liberty has exhibited a strong defense in the past meetings against the Mustangs. Coach Thompson stated the Panthers will make it difficult for West Orange-Stark to move the football. They line up in a 5-3 and sometimes a four-man front look. Thompson advised, “We’ll have to do a great job executing our offense in order to score points against them.”
In the middle of the Liberty defense is Wesley Scott who was all-district noseguard last season and has also lined up as a linebacker. Thompson indicated WO-S did not do a very good job blocking him last year when the two teams met. Slack and Guillory are stars on defense for the Panthers as well.
Thompson is not one to make predictions about the Mustangs, but the coach can do the math and shares the significance of the game Friday with Liberty could mean the district title. He credited the Mustangs under quarterback Tyrone Wilson having not turned the ball over offensively for a couple of weeks.
The coach pointed out a West Orange-Stark win would pretty much clinch first place for the Mustangs. Friday night is Senior Night for the Mustangs as well. “Not to take off that last week, don’t want to go into the playoffs with a loss, but this is the game we must win this week,” Thompson concluded.
The game will be broadcast live on KOGT.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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