WOS Mustangs defeat Sweetwater 24-6 to win back-to-back state championships

Photo: WOS Mustang quarterback Jack Dallas poses for a photo with his father Tony Dallas after the Mustangs defeat Sweetwater 24-6 in the state football championship on Friday. Dallas was also named Most Valuable Player Offense.

RECORD PHOTO: Tony Gunn

Larry Johnson - For The Record

West Orange-Stark’s football team, ranked No. 1 in the state all-season, capped its first 16-win season with a 24-6 win over Sweetwater Friday in the UIL Class 4A Division II championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

It was the 27^th straight win for WO-S, whose Mustangs won state for the second straight years and second time in three years.

Quarterback Jack Dallas, who scored the game-clinching touchdown on a quarterback sneak with 8 minutes to go, was named offensive player of the game.

Linebacker Justin Brown was named defensive player of the game after he added a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown with 5:38 to go to cap the scoring in this matchup of two teams sharing the Mustangs mascot.

After tough going in the first half, WO-S seemed primed to seize the momentum early in the third quarter when Jarron Morris intercepted Sweetwater quarterback Chris Thompson and returned it 14 yards for a first-and-goal at the 6 for WO-S.

But coach Cornel Thompson’s team had to settle for a 20-yard Chad Dallas field goal and a 10-6 lead.

Early in the final period, Sweetwater’s Kobe Clark intercepted Dallas in the end zone, frustrating another red zone opportunity for WO-S.

WO-S took a 7-6 halftime lead on a 2-yard run up the middle as Jeremiah Shaw followed blocks by center Ryan Ragsdale and guards Bobby Rash and Paul Ivory into the end zone with 29 seconds left in the second.

The eight-play, 89-yard drive started with WO-S stopping Sweetwater’s best drive of the game on fourth-down at the 11.

The West Texans had stopped WO-S at the 1 after the Orange team took the opening kickoff to a first-and-goal at the 1.

A bad snap hit the turf and Sweetwater’s Luke James snatched it up and ran 97 yards for the game’s first score with 7:44 left in the first quarter. A try for two points failed.

While Sweetwater caught WO-S by surprise with a 29-yard swinging gate play to start their deep second-quarter drive, coach Cornel Thompson’s WO-S team turned to the Wildcat formation to get its first scoring drive started.

Receiver Keion Hancock lined up behind the center and ran for a 16-yard gain on the drive’s first play, then a play later, threw a 40-yard pass to teammate Jay’len Matthews.