wildstangs
09-06-2003, 05:18 PM
Sweetwater's 'D' turns Steers into Graham cracker
Sweetwater head coach Kent Jackson admitted that his players were eager to prove some-thing when they faced Graham on Friday at Mustang Bowl.
And his players wasted little time delivering the message.
After an impressive defensive stand by the Mustangs on Gra-ham's first offensive series, the offense went right to work with a 13-play scoring drive that was capped by quarterback Reid Bishop's 12-yard run with 4:05 remaining in the first quarter.
But thanks to back-to-back sacks, the second of which led to a fumble recovery by linebacker Austen Kite in the end zone, Sweetwater didn't need Bishop or the rest of the offense to score its next touchdown and make it 14-0 minutes later.
Nor was the offensive unit re-quired when yet another linebacker, Matthew Teel, scooped up a Graham fumble in the third quarter and ran it back 25 yards for the Mustangs' final touchdown in a most convincing 28-7 victory.
Yes, it was that kind of night for Sweetwater's defense.
After Friday's brilliant exhibition, it's hard to believe the very same unit had turned in a less-than-totally stellar effort in a very brief season-opening performance against Vernon just seven nights earlier. Sweet-water had given up as many points to the Lions (7) in just 5:11 of actual playing time as Graham scored in a full 48 minutes Friday.
But the Mustang offense was just as eager to prove itself. After all, Sweetwater hadn't run a single offensive play against Vernon because of an untimely fumbled punt which led to the Lions' score -- which was even-tually wiped out when bad wea-ther cancelled the contest.
At any rate, Sweetwater ex-celled in both areas Friday. But the Mustangs' defensive effort was especially pleasing, consid-ering it came against a highly regarded Graham squad which had racked up 24 points in just one half of play in the Steers' season opener a week earlier.
"The defense played really well," said Jackson in possibly an understatement. "They did a great job of setting the tempo.
"As anxious as our offense was to to get back on the field, our defense was too because they wanted to prove something, too."
Consider it proven. Sweetwa-ter allowed Graham just 98 to-tal yards -- 35 yards rushing on 26 carries, and 63 passing.
The Sweetwater players re-ceived some additional motivation to perform well shortly be-fore Friday's kickoff, when they met briefly with their recently-retired assistant coach, Arlon Barnes. Barnes, his wife Dodie and daughter Kadee participated in a special pregame ceremony in which they raised the school's latest championship flag -- honoring the 2002 dis-trict co-champs -- to be placed on the north end of the Bowl.
"Coach Barnes talked to us about how great it was to put up the flag," said Mustang defensive end Giles Montgomery. "It meant a lot to us to see that.
"We wanted this one bad. This is our house, and we want-ed to show that you've got to play hard to beat us here."
Montgomery provided a big play that led up to Sweetwater's second touchdown when he sacked the Steers quarterback, Luke Doss, for a 10-yard loss at Graham's one-foot line.
On the following play, Doss was met again in his end zone by linebacker Michael Straley as he tried to get rid of the ball. The ensuing fumble was recov-ered by Kite, giving Sweetwater a 14-0 advantage with 1:23 still left in the first quarter.
But Graham kept the game from turning into a runaway -- at least for a while. The Steers held Sweetwater's offense in check during the second quarter, and with the help of several penalty flags on the Mustangs, put together a scoring drive shortly before intermission to cut the Mustang lead to 14-7
Sweetwater head coach Kent Jackson admitted that his players were eager to prove some-thing when they faced Graham on Friday at Mustang Bowl.
And his players wasted little time delivering the message.
After an impressive defensive stand by the Mustangs on Gra-ham's first offensive series, the offense went right to work with a 13-play scoring drive that was capped by quarterback Reid Bishop's 12-yard run with 4:05 remaining in the first quarter.
But thanks to back-to-back sacks, the second of which led to a fumble recovery by linebacker Austen Kite in the end zone, Sweetwater didn't need Bishop or the rest of the offense to score its next touchdown and make it 14-0 minutes later.
Nor was the offensive unit re-quired when yet another linebacker, Matthew Teel, scooped up a Graham fumble in the third quarter and ran it back 25 yards for the Mustangs' final touchdown in a most convincing 28-7 victory.
Yes, it was that kind of night for Sweetwater's defense.
After Friday's brilliant exhibition, it's hard to believe the very same unit had turned in a less-than-totally stellar effort in a very brief season-opening performance against Vernon just seven nights earlier. Sweet-water had given up as many points to the Lions (7) in just 5:11 of actual playing time as Graham scored in a full 48 minutes Friday.
But the Mustang offense was just as eager to prove itself. After all, Sweetwater hadn't run a single offensive play against Vernon because of an untimely fumbled punt which led to the Lions' score -- which was even-tually wiped out when bad wea-ther cancelled the contest.
At any rate, Sweetwater ex-celled in both areas Friday. But the Mustangs' defensive effort was especially pleasing, consid-ering it came against a highly regarded Graham squad which had racked up 24 points in just one half of play in the Steers' season opener a week earlier.
"The defense played really well," said Jackson in possibly an understatement. "They did a great job of setting the tempo.
"As anxious as our offense was to to get back on the field, our defense was too because they wanted to prove something, too."
Consider it proven. Sweetwa-ter allowed Graham just 98 to-tal yards -- 35 yards rushing on 26 carries, and 63 passing.
The Sweetwater players re-ceived some additional motivation to perform well shortly be-fore Friday's kickoff, when they met briefly with their recently-retired assistant coach, Arlon Barnes. Barnes, his wife Dodie and daughter Kadee participated in a special pregame ceremony in which they raised the school's latest championship flag -- honoring the 2002 dis-trict co-champs -- to be placed on the north end of the Bowl.
"Coach Barnes talked to us about how great it was to put up the flag," said Mustang defensive end Giles Montgomery. "It meant a lot to us to see that.
"We wanted this one bad. This is our house, and we want-ed to show that you've got to play hard to beat us here."
Montgomery provided a big play that led up to Sweetwater's second touchdown when he sacked the Steers quarterback, Luke Doss, for a 10-yard loss at Graham's one-foot line.
On the following play, Doss was met again in his end zone by linebacker Michael Straley as he tried to get rid of the ball. The ensuing fumble was recov-ered by Kite, giving Sweetwater a 14-0 advantage with 1:23 still left in the first quarter.
But Graham kept the game from turning into a runaway -- at least for a while. The Steers held Sweetwater's offense in check during the second quarter, and with the help of several penalty flags on the Mustangs, put together a scoring drive shortly before intermission to cut the Mustang lead to 14-7