Another district championship was earned by the West Orange-Stark Mustangs with their victory over the Hamshire-Fannett Longhorns last week. Coach Cornel Thompson believes the Mustangs played pretty good in the district finale which clinched the championship and kept them undefeated in the district. The win was number 403 for West Orange-Stark in the school’s history.
Thompson was pleased to have a few Mustangs back from injuries. Kavyn Cooper and Justin Sibley gave good efforts against Hamshire-Fannett. Ja’Vonn Ross has a broken thumb, but is getting a cast for it with which he can play in the bi-district game on Thursday.
Now it is the playoffs and the games are all win or go home. The first round opponent is Huntington. Thompson said the Red Devils have switched offenses this season. They are Spread team. Second year Coach Jim Kerbow made the switch from the Slot-T formation. Huntington is a mirror of West Orange-Stark’s last opponent Hamshire-Fannett.
Four or five seniors lead the Red Devils’ offense. Tyler Harris is a three-year starter at quarterback and operates the Spread pretty good. At tailback is Andrew Faulk who should get a workload of carries for Huntington in the bi-district game. Top receivers for the Red Devils are Carson Hopper and Hayden Flynt.
As the coach reminds every year there are always a couple of upsets in the opening round of the playoffs. Thompson warned his players, “Just make sure it’s not the Mustangs.”
Huntington has shown multiple fronts on defense as Coach Thompson explained he is not sure which the Red Devils will use against the Mustangs. Videos of Huntington’s games showed the Red Devils in one tape using a 40 front and then the 50 like West Orange-Stark in the other. Thompson advised, “They play hard, we’ve just got to play harder.”
The entire defensive line is made up of juniors, but just like on offense the Red Devils have three or four starters on defense that are leaders. John Flood and Chase Calhoun are athletic standouts as linebackers. Hopper and Flynt are both special in the secondary for Huntington.
The Red Devils are making their first appearance ever in the state playoffs and are facing the winningest program in Texas high school football history in West Orange-Stark. Thompson is working with the Mustangs to ensure they take nothing for granted with Huntington.
This week as always, the emphasis is to win at least two of the three phases of the game. Both teams have good kickers with the advantage going to the Mustangs according to Coach Thompson. He is also pleased with the play of his quarterback Tyrone Wilson in district and that must continue. A few coverages were busted on defense in the game against Hamshire-Fannett. “We have to cure that, we’ve been working on it all week, so we’ve got to get better on that side of the ball,” Thompson concluded.
West Orange Stark plays Huntington Thursday night. The game will be carried live on KOGT with Gary, John and Allen from Texan Drive Stadium with the kickoff at 7:30 PM.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
Social Media