Mustangs take Bulldogs despite lax defense in 4th quarter

It was a typical Jasper Bulldog-West Orange-Stark Mustang scuffle this past Friday night and unfortunately for the Bulldogs, the Mustangs came up with the 17-7 win. Although the Mustangs fizzled in the last quarter of the game and allowed their would-be 83rd shutout to slip through their fingers in the last 58 seconds, the first three quarters were enough for them to walk away with the win.

“I was real disturbed that we were not able to finish the game in Mustang manner and in the fashion that we had started,” Head Coach Cornel Thompson said. “The first half we played hard, but several on defense just took that last quarter off. We can’t do that against a good football team.”

Despite the poor fourth quarter, the Mustangs were able to hold the Bulldogs to just 93 yards rushing, with only 20 yards in the first half. Senior Jhaylien Monette was a thorn in the Bulldogs’ flesh the entire game. Monette recovered a Jasper fumble in the first series of the game and on the next play, quarterback Jimmy Salter hit receiver J’Marcus Rhodes down the right side for the first score of the night. After kicker Rodikson Cano hit the PAT, the Mustangs were up, 7-0, with less than a minute off the clock.

Monette and ‘Salter to Rhodes’ were the key to the game as the second touchdown came in the second quarter on another hook-up between the two after Monette picked up a loose Jasper ball at the 30 and returned it 15 yards. Cano kicked his second PAT of the night and the Mustangs went in at the half, up 14-0.

The only other Mustang score came after the third hook-up between Salter and Rhodes, the longest one of the night at 56 yards, during the third quarter. On fourth down, Cano came in and hit a 22-yard field goal to put the game at 17-0.

Then with 58 seconds left, Jasper’s Demarcus Collins recovered a fumble in the end zone to finally put the Bulldogs on the board and ruin the chance for the third shut-out in four weeks.

“But all of that is behind us,” Thompson said. “I have asked the guys to commit to pull together and play together-one play at a time, one day at a time, one game at a time.”

The Mustangs will face the Hamshire-Fannett Longhorns this Friday at Dan R. Hooks stadium at 7 pm. The Longhorns are coming off of a huge 41-3 win over Liberty and are 2-2 on the season.

Leading the ‘Horns is quarterback Dante Smith, who was an All District pick last year. Smith runs a spread offense with freshman quarterback Kendrick King coming in on the wildcat plays. Smith threw for 204 yards and two touchdowns and ran for one against Liberty.

“Hamshire has a new coach and a lot of people back from last year when they competed with us,” Thompson said. “We only won, 22-12, last year and this year they have aspirations to stay close to us. They have a new attitude and actually think that they can win. And that’s good.”

Hamshire-Fannett also has two go-to receivers in seniors Travis Appling and Darius Riley. Senior Jordan Brown has also been running the ball well. The Longhorns other win was 31-12 against Anahuac the second game of the season.

The freshmen team won their second game of the season, beating Jasper, 18-16. The Bulldogs drove the ball at the end of the game but the ninth grade defense held tough and the Mustangs walked away with the win. Scoring for the team was Maliki Hodge on a 6 yard pass to Kobe Colbert, JD Thompson on a one-yard run, and David Webb on a 45 yard run. Outstanding offensive players were Webb, Thompson, Hodge, Ludarian Carter and Colbert. Outstanding defensive players were Octaviun Rhodes, Domonique White and Keddrick Gant.

The JV lost a close game, 26-20. Tomarcus Fontenot scored on a 60 yard catch and run thrown by Jermaine Mitchell; Dillon Sterling had an 11-yard catch from Mitchell; Mitchell had a 1-yard run and Jordan Richard scored a two point conversion.

Other offensive standouts include linemen Richard Wright and Virgil Vontoure and defensive standouts were Jordan Richard and Dee Wolfford.

The middle school Stallions won three of their four home games against Jasper. The 7th grade A won, 21-0, 7th B lost, 0-7, 8th grade A won, 10-0 and 8th grade B won, 14-0. The Stallions will play at the middle school field beginning at 5 pm while the JV and ninth grade teams will play at Hamshire-Fannett Thursday, starting at 5pm.

Varsity Football tickets for the WO-S vs. Hamshire-Fannett game on Friday, September 28 at 7 pm will be on sale in the Athletic Office the following dates and times; Wednesday-1-3pm; Thursday-9-12 & 1-3pm and Friday-9-12 ONLY. Tickets are $5 for reserved and $2 for the student section. All tickets at the gate are $5.