Mustangs take on Lorena in semifinals

Although the Mustangs didn’t have as easy a time as they did the week before against Cleveland, they were able to walk away this past Friday night with a 20-10 victory over the West Columbia Roughnecks in the area round of the 3A Division 2 play-offs. WO-S (12-0) will now face the Lorena Leopards (10-2) in the regional semi-finals in Waller at the Waller ISD Stadium, Friday night at 7 p.m.

“We are still alive after playing a Silsbee-type football game,” Head Coach Cornel Thompson said. “We had the speed factor to deal with that we didn’t have the week before and we were spotty at times but this time of year, you win and you press on. We are glad to still be alive in the play-offs.”

Quarterback Jimmy Salter was right on the money, completing 10 of 12 passes for 110 yards, two for touchdowns, to J’Marcus Rhodes and Quentin Tezeno. Senior running back Abear Simien bruised his way to 78 yards on 16 carries and the rest of the 131 yards rushing was doled out to six other ball carriers.

The Chain Gang defense also did their job, holding the Roughnecks, who liked to use a power ground attack, to only 43 yards rushing for the night. In the previous eleven games, West Columbia had averaged 360 yards of offense but was held to 157 for the night.

The Mustangs were able to hit pay dirt in the first quarter, when Salter hit Rhodes on an 18-yard pass down the right sideline. Kicker Rodikson Cano hit the extra point and the Mustangs were up, 7-0. It wasn’t until the second quarter before WO-S was able to get on the board again. After moving the ball down the field on the legs of Simien, a roving Salter hit Tezeno, who was covered by two Roughnecks, in the endzone, for six more points. Cano’s kick was again good and the Mustangs were up, 14-0.

The Roughnecks fought back tooth and nail. With three seconds left in the half, after being able to move the ball through the air down to the 32 yard line, West Columbia missed their first opportunity to score when the field goal attempt barely missed the left side as time ran out.

“West Columbia came to play,” Thompson said. “They made us play the full 48 minutes.”

Rhodes was able to score for the third time, in the third quarter, on a 20 yard pass from Salter. Cano’s kick was blocked but the Mustangs were still up, 20-0 to start the fourth quarter.

However, the Roughnecks didn’t give up and were able to get on the board on the first play of the fourth quarter when Greg Gomez hit a field goal from 24 yards out. Although West Columbia’s top running back was held to only 48 yards on the ground, Broderick Thomas was able to get into the end zone from two yards out with only 1:22 left in the game. West Columbia went for the onside kick and was able to recover, but just seconds later, Ar’Tevin McDonald was able to fall on a loose ball that went through several Mustangs hands after WC’s Willis Johnson fumbled.

Next on the agenda are the Lorena Leopards. After trailing Fairfield most of the game last Friday, Lorena was able to come back and win in the last minute of the game, 42-39.

“Lorena is a well-coached team and is used to being in the playoffs,” Thompson said. “They have been to at least the third round the last five or six years. At 7 p.m. Friday night in Waller, they will have a purpose in mind.”

The Leopards are led by quarterback Harris Coleman, who was a part time starter last year as a sophomore. He is a throwing quarterback and is the hub of the wheel in a team that runs the spread offense. Coleman has 307 carries for 1,823 yards and 31 touchdowns and has completed 116-of-199 passes for 1,698 yards and has 15 passing touchdowns to his credit. According to Thompson, Lorena runs the same defense that they Mustangs do and they will line up and play hard.

While Lorena is used to putting up big numbers on the offensive side of the ball, the Chain Gang is known to only allow an average of 130 yards a game and has only allowed 42 points this season.

“We need a great week of work,” Thompson said. “Getting back to our normal routine of going to school, going to the athletic period and then after school practice should help us. At this point, there are no weak teams left. Everyone here is playing there thirteenth game.”

Tickets will be on sale in the Athletic Office Thursday, Nov. 29 - 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m. and Friday, Nov. 30 - 9 a.m. to noon ONLY and are $7 for adults and $5 for students will all tickets at the gate being $8.

Directions to Waller ISD New Football Stadium - 20735 Stokes Road, Waller, TX 77484 are as follows: Take I-10 W to Houston. Take exit 775A for Interstate 610N and merge onto I-610W, taking care to move over to the far left in order to take exit 13B to merge onto US-290 W towards Austin. Take the exit toward FM 2920 / Waller / Tomball. Merge onto U.S. 290 Frontage Rd. Go through the light and turn right on Stokes Road and the stadium is approximately one mile on the left.

West Orange-Cove schools will observe an early dismissal with North Early Learning Center and WO-S Elementary releasing at 11 a.m. and WO-S Middle and High Schools releasing at noon.

Come out and support the Mustangs as they play in round three of the play-offs. It has been nice seeing other area teams up in the stands supporting the Mustangs, wearing their own school colors. Good luck also to the area teams who are still playing-the Community Christian Lions, the Silsbee Tigers and the Nederland Bulldogs!

WOS Mustang ticket sales for Regional game

The WOS (Home) Regional Round Varsity Football game against Lorena (Visitors) will be played at Waller ISD Stadium (Waller, Tx) on Friday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. Ticlets will be on sale in the Athletic Office on the following dates and times:

• Thursday, Nov. 29 - 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m.

• Friday, Nov. 30 - 9 a.m. to noon ONLY

Ticket prices for Adults are $7 and Students are $5. All tickets at the gate are $8.

Directions:

@ Waller ISD New Football Stadium - 20735 Stokes Road, Waller, TX 77484

• I-10 W to Houston

• Take exit 775A for Interstate 610N

• Merge onto I-610W

• Take exit 13B to merge onto US-290 W towards Austin

• Take the exit toward FM 2920 / Waller / Tomball

• Merge onto U.S. 290 Frontage Rd.

• Go through the light and turn right on Stokes Road.

• Stadium is approximately 1 mile on the left.