Last week’s game was billed as a battle of titans between West Orange-Stark and Newton. The result was a surprising blowout by the Mustangs, 70-0.
Coach Cornel Thompson said the margin of the victory was very unexpected because of the strong tradition with the Newton program commenting the Eagles are very young. He added in a couple of years they will be very tough and still will probably be the favorite in their district.
The Mustangs played well despite making the normal first game mistakes. Thompson reported, “We didn’t have any injuries coming out of the game other than the normal soreness, and bumps, and bruises.”
West Orange-Stark begins district action this week at Hamshire-Fannett. Thompson looked at what the Longhorns do on offense and informed they do just about everything out of their Spread Offense.
From the Spread the Longhorns will run about five different formations including two wide receivers on both sides, three wide receivers to one side, no backs with the quarterback, and a full-house backfield. “They run it all with the people on the field so you don’t get any kind of a clue by the personnel grouping who comes off the sideline, the coach does a great job with his Spread Offense,” Thompson stated.
Hamshire-Fannett has some talented personnel on offense according to Thompson. A returning starter from last year for the Longhorns is Kheagian Heckaman who plays multiple positions. Heckaman plays quarterback, running back, wide receiver, and tight end. He has totaled 379 yards from scrimmage with seven touchdowns running, throwing, and catching the football during the Longhorns’ first three games.
The quarterback for the Longhorns is freshman D’Onte Zeno. Like Heckaman, Zeno lines up at quarterback and sometimes shifts into a running back position. Zeno has thrown for 497 yards and two touchdowns so far this season.
The leading receiver last season for Hamshire-Fannett Garrett Picou is back and is joined by Jordan Denson and Colin Dorsey as receiving targets. Thompson summarized, “Those are the people on the offensive side of the ball that you better know where they’re at because they move around quite a bit.”
The Longhorns’ strength is their offense. On defense they do line up similar to the Mustangs with the 50 Defense, but will shift into a four-man front on occasions.
Coach Thompson pointed out there are quality players too, on defense for Hamshire-Fannett. The two best defensive players are on the outside at the end positions. Tyler Spencer and Jordan Joiner are not big, but are very athletic making them difficult to knock off their feet and they do a good job containing the run.
The two safeties Anakin Hall and Evan Viator are returning starters for the Longhorns. Thompson indicated, “Those are the four people that are kind of the “bell cow” on the defensive side of the ball, and they’ll do a good job and play hard on defense.”
A win in the opening game of district is important. As always, the coach said the Mustangs need to win two out of the three phases of the game of football, offense, defense, and the kicking game. Thompson believes the kicking game is strong for West Orange-Stark and he would like to see his team capture both of the other two as well.
Thompson reflected on having just one game to prepare for the beginning of district. The games really start counting with the district schedule. Non-district games are for fun and preparation. This year because of COVID and Hurricane Laura there was only the one game with Newton.
Before the season started, Coach Thompson picked Hamshire-Fannett to be one of the most improved teams in the district. He believes the Longhorns’ win earlier this season over Splendora a larger school is evidence that they are a better team. “We’ve got a formidable opponent starting out in this first district contest,” Thompson concluded.
The game between West Orange-Stark and Hamshire-Fannett will be carried live on KOGT. The Mustangs and Longhorns kickoff at 7:30 PM.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
photo by Allen Nation
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