Mustangs fall to Bulldogs, 48-36

Hughes Springs traveled to Jefferson on Friday, Oct. 14. The Mustangs offense came out in the Slot-T, and it felt like everyone had traveled back to some point in the past.

Luckily for everyone involved, it was the best of both worlds. For the Slot-T offense connoisseur, it was a welcome sight to see the trusty offense being run. Spread offense proponents, had their time in the second half of the game.

With offensive genius Coach Stephen Barnes hard at work, and a Hughes Springs offense that needed a jolt, the Mustangs came out in the Slot-T. The hope was that a tried and true offense would provide a spark for a team, that has of late, been lack luster.

On the first drive of the night, the Mustangs were driving the ball with promise, but a fumble cut short the drive, giving the ball to the Bulldogs. The defense was able to hold, but the Mustangs could not muster much and punted back to the Bulldogs. This time Jefferson was able to get behind the defense of Hughes Springs for a long touchdown pass, and went up early 6-0, after a failed conversion.

After falling behind 12-0, the Mustangs were looking for help in the backfield when Tradarian Craver went down with an apparent leg injury. They found that spark in Tony Kemp. The junior linebacker/defensive end, was inserted into the offensive lineup and was able to find daylight, scampering 59 yards down the sideline to give Hughes Springs new life. Down 12-6, Alex Bruce, the Mustang signal caller, was able to find Dylan Freeman for a two-point conversion and Hughes Springs was down only 12-8 midway through the second quarter.

Later with Jefferson driving, they were given an early Christmas present by an official who, called a pass interference penalty on Hughes Springs and gave the Jefferson offense more help than necessary. Not long after that, Jefferson scored to make it 18-8, and after the extra point were up 19-8. Just before the end of the first half, Alex Bruce was able to find Zack Anderson in the back right corner of the end zone for an improbable touchdown catch to narrow the score to 26-14, going into the intermission.

The second half started with Jefferson again getting behind the secondary of Hughes Springs and was up 33-14 before the bands had a chance to get their third quarter break started. The Mustangs came out in the spread and seemed to move the ball with an efficiency that lacked that past couple games. Quarterback Bruce was able to find holes in the defense, and after being down 48-20, the Mustangs were making a comeback with Bruce and Bryce Johnston leading the way. The Jefferson defense was gassed, and couldn’t stop the “three B’s.” Bruce, Bryce, and Bo McEntire were getting big gains and closed the gap, to 48-36, with less than two minutes remaining in the game. But time was winding down, and the Jefferson squad was able to withstand the charge and ultimately came away with the win. On the night, the Mustangs offense was led by Bruce, who had 148 yards on 20 carries. He ran the ball well, and was able to provide optimism going into next week’s contest against familiar foe and now district rival, New Boston. Also of note for the Mustangs was Johnston, who had 27 yards on 6 carries while McEntire had 95 yards on 29 carries. Kemp only had 2 carries for 64 yards but had the long touchdown in the first half. For the night, Hughes Springs had 367 yards on the ground, and 49 through the air, for 416 yards in total offense.

Defensively for Hughes Springs, Hunter Brabham played defensive end for second game in a row, and was in the Jefferson backfield almost as much at their quarterback. On the night, Brabham had eight QB hurries, two sacks, and five assists to go with three tackles for losses. JJ Jones got in the action as well, with three tackles, and two assists. Zach Pilgrim, Zack Anderson, and Jakobie Craver all had two tackles on the night, and were all over the field, making it difficult for the Bulldogs.