Funk-d-fied
09-19-2006, 09:24 AM
Oscar LeRoy is afor the Reporter-Telegram.
He can be reached at oscar@mrt.com.
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I don't want to say I told you so, but I told you last week before anybody else that Midland Christian-Monahans was going to be the game of the week.
The 26-21 victory by Monahans last Friday at Grande Communications Stadium had big plays, outstanding performances, a comeback and a down-to-the-wire outcome that left myself and the fans in the stands almost out of breath.
As usual, when Midland Christian and Monahans have gotten together over the last three years it has been a playoff-type contest with both teams fighting tooth and nail for every yard and that precious early-season momentum builder.
Don't tell these teams that a win or loss does not secure or keep them out of the playoffs or that this game is just another meaningless non-district game. You know if all games were like this, I might even support an extended non-district schedule for everybody. But I'm not quite there yet. I'll just enjoy this one for now.
The Loboes (2-0) certainly enjoyed the win, the third straight over the Mustangs -- a team which could be the best the Loboes will face all year. No disrespect to the rest of the teams in District 1-3A, Monahans' district, but if there is a team that is the same caliber as Midland Christian in that district, it has yet to show up.
"Midland Christian might be the toughest team we'll play until the playoffs," said senior Loboes fullback Josh Rodriguez, who rumbled his way to 217 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries.
In case you missed it, Midland Christian started off impressively, marching 90 yards on its first drive of the game for a score. The Mustangs would eventually take a 21-7 lead in the third quarter on a 56-yard pass from Cory Burleson to Jordan Coulon.
The Mustangs appeared to be in control, but in the words of the crazy Lee Corso "Not so fast my friend." The Loboes recovered an onside kick attempt by the Mustangs and Rodriguez raced to a 52-yard TD run on the first play from scrimmage, the first of 19 unanswered points by the Loboes which would give them the lead.
The Mustangs still had one last chance and were driving for the game-winning score when Russell Covington came up with an interception at Monahans' 11-yard-line with 3:14 left in the game to seal the victory for the Loboes.
"I can honestly tell you if we would've gotten beat 28-27 I still would have been proud of the kids," second-year Monahans coach Mickey Owens said. "When (the Loboes) were down 14, they fought their tails off to get back in it. It was a huge win for us."
Owens added this is the type of game that will only help his team.
"I told the kids, I don't like to talk about losing, but win or lose this game is going to help us down the road," Owens said. "That's kind of the way we approached it. We're going in to play as hard as we can, and we're going to get better as we continue in the season."
While the Loboes felt jubilation, the Mustangs were frustrated and heartbroken. They had seen their starting tailback Jamison Berryhill leave in the first half with a lower leg injury, seen Monahans rush for 355 yards and they had not solved the puzzle known as the Loboes for the third consecutive year.
Probably nobody takes a loss tougher than MCS head coach Greg McClendon. As he shook his head in disgust, he vowed to keep on scheduling Monahans in the future and guaranteed that his team would also get better from this loss.
"We've won state championships at 12-1. This won't set us back," McClendon said. "We're going to keep getting after it. There's going to be a lot we learn off of this game. This will be a stone which we'll build a great season off of."
These are two teams that won't back down from anybody. And kudos to teams such as Monahans and Andrews, who scheduled Midland Christian. There aren't many teams in the area or the state that would do the same.
I just wish there were more teams that were willing to play the Mustangs. Call me selfish, but I would like to see more classic West Texas matchups like I saw last Friday night.
©MyWestTexas.com 2006
He can be reached at oscar@mrt.com.
Advertisement
I don't want to say I told you so, but I told you last week before anybody else that Midland Christian-Monahans was going to be the game of the week.
The 26-21 victory by Monahans last Friday at Grande Communications Stadium had big plays, outstanding performances, a comeback and a down-to-the-wire outcome that left myself and the fans in the stands almost out of breath.
As usual, when Midland Christian and Monahans have gotten together over the last three years it has been a playoff-type contest with both teams fighting tooth and nail for every yard and that precious early-season momentum builder.
Don't tell these teams that a win or loss does not secure or keep them out of the playoffs or that this game is just another meaningless non-district game. You know if all games were like this, I might even support an extended non-district schedule for everybody. But I'm not quite there yet. I'll just enjoy this one for now.
The Loboes (2-0) certainly enjoyed the win, the third straight over the Mustangs -- a team which could be the best the Loboes will face all year. No disrespect to the rest of the teams in District 1-3A, Monahans' district, but if there is a team that is the same caliber as Midland Christian in that district, it has yet to show up.
"Midland Christian might be the toughest team we'll play until the playoffs," said senior Loboes fullback Josh Rodriguez, who rumbled his way to 217 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries.
In case you missed it, Midland Christian started off impressively, marching 90 yards on its first drive of the game for a score. The Mustangs would eventually take a 21-7 lead in the third quarter on a 56-yard pass from Cory Burleson to Jordan Coulon.
The Mustangs appeared to be in control, but in the words of the crazy Lee Corso "Not so fast my friend." The Loboes recovered an onside kick attempt by the Mustangs and Rodriguez raced to a 52-yard TD run on the first play from scrimmage, the first of 19 unanswered points by the Loboes which would give them the lead.
The Mustangs still had one last chance and were driving for the game-winning score when Russell Covington came up with an interception at Monahans' 11-yard-line with 3:14 left in the game to seal the victory for the Loboes.
"I can honestly tell you if we would've gotten beat 28-27 I still would have been proud of the kids," second-year Monahans coach Mickey Owens said. "When (the Loboes) were down 14, they fought their tails off to get back in it. It was a huge win for us."
Owens added this is the type of game that will only help his team.
"I told the kids, I don't like to talk about losing, but win or lose this game is going to help us down the road," Owens said. "That's kind of the way we approached it. We're going in to play as hard as we can, and we're going to get better as we continue in the season."
While the Loboes felt jubilation, the Mustangs were frustrated and heartbroken. They had seen their starting tailback Jamison Berryhill leave in the first half with a lower leg injury, seen Monahans rush for 355 yards and they had not solved the puzzle known as the Loboes for the third consecutive year.
Probably nobody takes a loss tougher than MCS head coach Greg McClendon. As he shook his head in disgust, he vowed to keep on scheduling Monahans in the future and guaranteed that his team would also get better from this loss.
"We've won state championships at 12-1. This won't set us back," McClendon said. "We're going to keep getting after it. There's going to be a lot we learn off of this game. This will be a stone which we'll build a great season off of."
These are two teams that won't back down from anybody. And kudos to teams such as Monahans and Andrews, who scheduled Midland Christian. There aren't many teams in the area or the state that would do the same.
I just wish there were more teams that were willing to play the Mustangs. Call me selfish, but I would like to see more classic West Texas matchups like I saw last Friday night.
©MyWestTexas.com 2006