Phantom Stang
08-27-2005, 11:23 PM
Sports
Mustangs wreck the Pirates
By RON HOWELL/Reporter Sports Editor
In Sweetwater's season ope-ner at Lubbock Cooper a year ago, the Mustangs not only did not score in the first half but failed to get a single first down, and a second-half comeback fell just short in a 17-14 loss.
To say that the teams' 2005 opener played here Friday at Mustang Bowl got off to a better start for Sweetwater might qualify as the understatement of the year.
It took exactly 10 seconds for the seventh-ranked Mustangs to score on the Pirates this time, even though Sweetwater didn't take an offensive snap until several minutes later.
Cooper began the game from its 20 after a touchback on the opening kickoff, and quarterback Trey Wood tried to hit a quick pass on first down. How-ever, free safety Brittan Pitt-man picked off the throw and ran it back for a 23-yard touchdown with 11:50 showing on the clock. Parker Morrow's ex-tra point kick made it 7-0.
"That (interception) got us pumped up," Pittman said. "We wanted to just keep scoring af-ter that."
Consider the mission accom-plished.
Sweetwater went three-and-out on its first offensive posses-sion, but marched 80 yards in six plays on its next series to in-crease the lead to 14-0.
The big play came on a 59-yard run by quarterback Kendal Carrillo to Cooper's 20, and Jo-seph Banyard got the score on a 4-yard run with 2:23 still left in the first quarter.
It may have seemed that the rout was on, but Cooper actu-ally was still very much in the game the rest of the half and if not for some crucial defensive stops by Sweetwater, the game might have turned out a lot dif-ferent than it did.
Aided by a 40-yard run from Wood, Cooper drove to Sweet-water's 16 before being stopped on downs at the start of the sec-ond quarter. Sweetwater failed to move on offense, however, and then put its defense to an even bigger test after a short punt allowed Cooper to take over at the Mustangs' 27.
Wood's only pass completion of the game gave the Pirates a first down at Sweetwater's 15, but the Mustangs were able to dodge the bullet when Duone Cunnings recovered a Cooper fumble two plays later at the 8.
The Pirates would not be de-nied, though, finally scoring on their next series as Wood broke through the line to find paydirt on a 70-yard run which cut the lead to 14-6 with 2:13 remaining in the half.
But Sweetwater quickly, and we mean quickly, answered that touchdown with one of its own by going 58 yards in just two plays. Banyard shook off at least two tacklers on a 47-yard scoring run with 1:35 left, and Morrow's extra point restored a two-TD advantage (21-6) at intermission.
And while Cooper may not have known it, that touchdown proved to be the beginning of the end of its comeback hopes because Sweetwater completely dominated the second half.
After getting the ball to start the third quarter, the Mustangs put together a 12-play, 86-yard scoring drive that resulted in a 1-yard plunge by Joe Limones, and also scored on their next two posssesions while empty-ing the bench over the final two periods of play.
The Mustangs made it 33-6 by going 44 yards in six plays, capped by a 3-yard run by Skye Green with 2:07 left in the third quarter. After forcing a second straight three-and-out on de-fense, Sweetwater -- with Cun-nings at the controls -- scored again on a 4-yard run by freshman fullback Rufus McCann with 9:51 left in the game. The last drive was immediately kick-started by Cunnings' 68-yard dash down the left sideline to the Pirates' 14.
Sweetwater finished with an incredible 403 yards rushing in the game on 44 attempts, a 9.2 average. Banyard led the way with 97 yards on only seven at-tempts. And the defense, after surrendering two long runs in the first half, shut down Cooper after intermission. The Pirates managed only one first down in the final two quarters.
Carrillo had a team-high 10 tackles from his starting safety position. The three starting linebackers -- Justin Adames, Auston Davis and Banyard -- were next with eight, six and five tackles, respectively, and Davis and Banyard each had a tackle for a loss. James Beck-with had four tackles while Mc-Cann, Russell Clayton, Bran-dan Fangman, Limones, Green and Pittman all had three tack-les and Cunnings, Justin Rod-riguez, Maurice Rosas, Casey Toland and Kendall Mayes had two tackles apiece. Green also had a tackle behind the line.
The offensive line led by center Lance Clark, guards Fang-man and Britt Glover, tackles Taylor Jones and Ty Jones and Clayton at tight end, also had a huge night clearing the way for all that offensive yardage.
"It's a great deal when every-one gets to play and to make a contribution," said head coach Kent Jackson. "That's what you want to see."
Sweetwater goes to San An-gelo Lake View this Friday. The Chiefs lost their opener, 41-0, to Abilene Wylie.
Copyright © 2005 Sweetwater Reporter
Mustangs wreck the Pirates
By RON HOWELL/Reporter Sports Editor
In Sweetwater's season ope-ner at Lubbock Cooper a year ago, the Mustangs not only did not score in the first half but failed to get a single first down, and a second-half comeback fell just short in a 17-14 loss.
To say that the teams' 2005 opener played here Friday at Mustang Bowl got off to a better start for Sweetwater might qualify as the understatement of the year.
It took exactly 10 seconds for the seventh-ranked Mustangs to score on the Pirates this time, even though Sweetwater didn't take an offensive snap until several minutes later.
Cooper began the game from its 20 after a touchback on the opening kickoff, and quarterback Trey Wood tried to hit a quick pass on first down. How-ever, free safety Brittan Pitt-man picked off the throw and ran it back for a 23-yard touchdown with 11:50 showing on the clock. Parker Morrow's ex-tra point kick made it 7-0.
"That (interception) got us pumped up," Pittman said. "We wanted to just keep scoring af-ter that."
Consider the mission accom-plished.
Sweetwater went three-and-out on its first offensive posses-sion, but marched 80 yards in six plays on its next series to in-crease the lead to 14-0.
The big play came on a 59-yard run by quarterback Kendal Carrillo to Cooper's 20, and Jo-seph Banyard got the score on a 4-yard run with 2:23 still left in the first quarter.
It may have seemed that the rout was on, but Cooper actu-ally was still very much in the game the rest of the half and if not for some crucial defensive stops by Sweetwater, the game might have turned out a lot dif-ferent than it did.
Aided by a 40-yard run from Wood, Cooper drove to Sweet-water's 16 before being stopped on downs at the start of the sec-ond quarter. Sweetwater failed to move on offense, however, and then put its defense to an even bigger test after a short punt allowed Cooper to take over at the Mustangs' 27.
Wood's only pass completion of the game gave the Pirates a first down at Sweetwater's 15, but the Mustangs were able to dodge the bullet when Duone Cunnings recovered a Cooper fumble two plays later at the 8.
The Pirates would not be de-nied, though, finally scoring on their next series as Wood broke through the line to find paydirt on a 70-yard run which cut the lead to 14-6 with 2:13 remaining in the half.
But Sweetwater quickly, and we mean quickly, answered that touchdown with one of its own by going 58 yards in just two plays. Banyard shook off at least two tacklers on a 47-yard scoring run with 1:35 left, and Morrow's extra point restored a two-TD advantage (21-6) at intermission.
And while Cooper may not have known it, that touchdown proved to be the beginning of the end of its comeback hopes because Sweetwater completely dominated the second half.
After getting the ball to start the third quarter, the Mustangs put together a 12-play, 86-yard scoring drive that resulted in a 1-yard plunge by Joe Limones, and also scored on their next two posssesions while empty-ing the bench over the final two periods of play.
The Mustangs made it 33-6 by going 44 yards in six plays, capped by a 3-yard run by Skye Green with 2:07 left in the third quarter. After forcing a second straight three-and-out on de-fense, Sweetwater -- with Cun-nings at the controls -- scored again on a 4-yard run by freshman fullback Rufus McCann with 9:51 left in the game. The last drive was immediately kick-started by Cunnings' 68-yard dash down the left sideline to the Pirates' 14.
Sweetwater finished with an incredible 403 yards rushing in the game on 44 attempts, a 9.2 average. Banyard led the way with 97 yards on only seven at-tempts. And the defense, after surrendering two long runs in the first half, shut down Cooper after intermission. The Pirates managed only one first down in the final two quarters.
Carrillo had a team-high 10 tackles from his starting safety position. The three starting linebackers -- Justin Adames, Auston Davis and Banyard -- were next with eight, six and five tackles, respectively, and Davis and Banyard each had a tackle for a loss. James Beck-with had four tackles while Mc-Cann, Russell Clayton, Bran-dan Fangman, Limones, Green and Pittman all had three tack-les and Cunnings, Justin Rod-riguez, Maurice Rosas, Casey Toland and Kendall Mayes had two tackles apiece. Green also had a tackle behind the line.
The offensive line led by center Lance Clark, guards Fang-man and Britt Glover, tackles Taylor Jones and Ty Jones and Clayton at tight end, also had a huge night clearing the way for all that offensive yardage.
"It's a great deal when every-one gets to play and to make a contribution," said head coach Kent Jackson. "That's what you want to see."
Sweetwater goes to San An-gelo Lake View this Friday. The Chiefs lost their opener, 41-0, to Abilene Wylie.
Copyright © 2005 Sweetwater Reporter