Sweetwater Red
09-24-2010, 01:24 PM
Stangs hope to celebrate more than homecoming
Written by Ron Howell
Thursday, 23 September 2010
A lot of exes will be in town to help Sweetwater celebrate its homecoming this weekend, something its opponent on Friday did the previous week.
And if the Mustangs have the kind of finish Midland Greenwood did in a 35-34 win against San Angelo Lake View, the exes will have a lot more to talk about than just the usual activities associated with homecoming.
Greenwood, which is 3-1 — the same as Sweetwater — had the kind of finish last week that came straight out of a Hollywood script.
The Rangers trailed Lake View by 18 points, 34-16, with just seven minutes to play when Jesse Madrid, the team’s fifth-string quarterback, threw three touch-down passes to pull out the victory. Greenwood recov-ered an onside kick after cutting the lead to 34-23 and scored again by catching a deflected pass from Lake View on third-and-14 to narrow the lead to five, 34-29. Lake View recovered the next onside attempt, but Greenwood recovered a fumble on the Chiefs’ second play to get the ball back at its 45 and set up the game’s incredible finish.
Greenwood faced fourth down twice on its final series but converted both times, including on Madrid’s winning 10-yard TD pass to Tony Navarez with just 24 seconds left and the Rangers out of timeouts.
Greenwood, not expected to contend for the playoffs despite being a perennial contender for years, has treaded a thin line with two wins by three points or less. The Rangers now run a spread offense installed by Shad Hanna, who previously coached at Alpine before coming to Greenwood this year, after being primarily a wishbone team in the past.
It appears the Rangers are adopting well. Madrid, who played quarterback for the first time against Lake View, was 18-of-35 for 211 yards and four touchdowns. In addition, he ran for 126 yards and one score.
Sweetwater coach Craig Slaughter said the Rangers’ victory was a lesson in how to win.
“It’s a credit to Green-wood and their staff,” he said. “They made every play they had to make.”
Slaughter, meanwhile, is finally enjoying success in his second year at Sweet-water, which has tripled its win total from last season.
Sweetwater was able to hold off Early 12-7 last week despite having severe problems in the kicking game. Early started seven of its 11 possessions on Sweetwater’s end of the field but managed to score just once.
The Mustangs had two punts blocked and gave up two long kickoff returns, but won thanks to a defense that intercepted two passes and allowed just 123 yards. “Our defense played great,” Slaughter admitted.
The offense had 297 yards despite poor field position all night. “We were pretty pleased with two of three phases, but the third leg collapsed on us,” Slaughter said. “We’d given up big kick returns before last week but thought we had it fixed.”
Greenwood is the first of three straight home games on the Mustangs’ schedule. Midland Christian visits the Bowl next week to end non-district play and Sweetwater hosts Wylie to start District 5-3A action on Oct. 8.
Sweetwater Reporter (http://www.sweetwaterreporter.com/content/view/275057/122/)
Written by Ron Howell
Thursday, 23 September 2010
A lot of exes will be in town to help Sweetwater celebrate its homecoming this weekend, something its opponent on Friday did the previous week.
And if the Mustangs have the kind of finish Midland Greenwood did in a 35-34 win against San Angelo Lake View, the exes will have a lot more to talk about than just the usual activities associated with homecoming.
Greenwood, which is 3-1 — the same as Sweetwater — had the kind of finish last week that came straight out of a Hollywood script.
The Rangers trailed Lake View by 18 points, 34-16, with just seven minutes to play when Jesse Madrid, the team’s fifth-string quarterback, threw three touch-down passes to pull out the victory. Greenwood recov-ered an onside kick after cutting the lead to 34-23 and scored again by catching a deflected pass from Lake View on third-and-14 to narrow the lead to five, 34-29. Lake View recovered the next onside attempt, but Greenwood recovered a fumble on the Chiefs’ second play to get the ball back at its 45 and set up the game’s incredible finish.
Greenwood faced fourth down twice on its final series but converted both times, including on Madrid’s winning 10-yard TD pass to Tony Navarez with just 24 seconds left and the Rangers out of timeouts.
Greenwood, not expected to contend for the playoffs despite being a perennial contender for years, has treaded a thin line with two wins by three points or less. The Rangers now run a spread offense installed by Shad Hanna, who previously coached at Alpine before coming to Greenwood this year, after being primarily a wishbone team in the past.
It appears the Rangers are adopting well. Madrid, who played quarterback for the first time against Lake View, was 18-of-35 for 211 yards and four touchdowns. In addition, he ran for 126 yards and one score.
Sweetwater coach Craig Slaughter said the Rangers’ victory was a lesson in how to win.
“It’s a credit to Green-wood and their staff,” he said. “They made every play they had to make.”
Slaughter, meanwhile, is finally enjoying success in his second year at Sweet-water, which has tripled its win total from last season.
Sweetwater was able to hold off Early 12-7 last week despite having severe problems in the kicking game. Early started seven of its 11 possessions on Sweetwater’s end of the field but managed to score just once.
The Mustangs had two punts blocked and gave up two long kickoff returns, but won thanks to a defense that intercepted two passes and allowed just 123 yards. “Our defense played great,” Slaughter admitted.
The offense had 297 yards despite poor field position all night. “We were pretty pleased with two of three phases, but the third leg collapsed on us,” Slaughter said. “We’d given up big kick returns before last week but thought we had it fixed.”
Greenwood is the first of three straight home games on the Mustangs’ schedule. Midland Christian visits the Bowl next week to end non-district play and Sweetwater hosts Wylie to start District 5-3A action on Oct. 8.
Sweetwater Reporter (http://www.sweetwaterreporter.com/content/view/275057/122/)