Another district championship was won Friday night by West Orange-Stark. The victory was not necessarily pretty in muddy conditions, but the Mustangs defeated the Hamshire-Fannett Longhorns 34-10 at Longhorn Stadium.
West Orange-Stark (6-4, 4-0) completed the district undefeated to claim the district title. Hamshire-Fannett (5-5, 1-3) finished in fourth place in District 10-4A, Division II, and will be going to the playoffs.
The Mustangs used three turnovers to turn the tide in the first half. Trailing 3-0 West Orange-Stark had a pass intercepted by the Longhorns’ Evan Viator who returned it to the Mustangs’ 36. Hamshire-Fannett was in position to add to its lead, but on the first play quarterback Marcus Morris fumbled the snap and could not recover the loose ball. Shemar Manaway picked up the ball for the Mustangs and returned it 44 yards to the Longhorn 15.
Mustang quarterback Tyrone Wilson carried the ball three times, the last one a quarterback sneak from the one for the score. Angel Ibarra kicked the extra point to give West Orange-Stark the lead 7-3 with 4:18 to play in the first quarter.
The Longhorns got a big gain on the first play after the kickoff as running back Ke’shawn Morris broke loose for 45 yards. Marcus Morris passed to Tahji Edwards for a first-and-goal at the nine. Two plays later Morris fumbled again. The Mustangs’ Tyrone Brown scooped the ball up and with an escort of blockers carried it 86 yards for the touchdown. Ibarra made it 14-3 with 47 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Longhorns started a good drive after the kickoff. Ke’Shawn Morris gained a first down with two carries. West Orange-Stark was flagged for a late hit near the sidelines for another first down. Marcus Morris picked up a third first down with an eight-yard run to the Mustangs’ 26.
On third-and-13 Morris passed to the right sideline where Teshaun Teel intercepted at the 10 for the Mustangs. Following a herd of white-shirted blockers Teel went 90 yards for another West Orange-Stark defensive score. The lead was 21-3 with less than four minutes gone in the second quarter.
Despite dominating the first half in time of possession, Hamshire-Fannett killed itself with the turnovers. The Longhorns had eight first downs to just four for WO-S. They outgained the Mustangs 161 yards to 44 yards in the first half yet trailed by 18 points as the teams went to the locker room.
The second half was barely two minutes old when West Orange-Stark padded its lead. After a short punt by the Longhorns, the Mustangs took over at the Hamshire-Fannett 44. On the first play Kavyn Cooper swept the left end and ran down the sideline to the one. Elijah Gales took Cooper’s place at running back and took the ball into the end zone on the next play to make the score 28-3 with 9:46 left in the third quarter.
It would take the Longhorns just two plays to answer. Marcus Morris after faking a handoff took off with the ball, cut through a hole into the clear, and outraced the Mustangs to the end zone for a 61-yard touchdown. Noah Kincer kicked the point after to reduce the WO-S advantage to 28-10.
The next possession West Orange-Stark put together its first sustained drive. It started with good field position when Hamshire-Fannett kicked the ball out-of-bounds attempting an onside kick. Wilson passed to Chavon Crawford for a first down. Gales garnered another first on the ground to the Longhorns’ 25.
Three more runs gained six yards for the Mustangs. Ibarra was called on to try a 36-yard field which he made to raise the score to 31-10 with 2:18 left in the third period.
The Mustangs completed the scoring on what amounted to their last real possession of the game. Taking over at their own 41 they got two good carries from Cooper for a first down. Wilson completed his longest pass of the night to Jay’zn Robinson for 27 yards and a first down into Hamshire-Fannett territory.
Cooper on the next play popped another sizable gain of 21 yards to the 13. Cooper was the leading ground gainer on the night with 108 yards on 12 carries. The drive netted only two more yards from there. Ibarra was successful again with a 28-yard field goal to make the final score 34-10.
All tickets for the WOS (Home) vs. Huntington Bi-District Round Football game, which will be played at Texas Drive Stadium (above), on Thursday, November 15th at 7:30pm, have to be purchased at the gate the evening of the game. Tickets are $7.00.
Hamshire-Fannett will play Jasper.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
WOS 14 7 10 3- 34
HF 3 0 7 0- 10
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