Mustang Season Screeches to a Halt

     Thursday night, the Creekview Mustangs took the field against the Frisco Centennial Titans at Allen Eagle Stadium with the hopes of notching the first ever playoff victory in the schools history. Unfortunately, the outcome is not what the Mustangs had hoped for, falling short 17-9 in a tough, competitive Texas High School football playoff game.

Recap: 

     The Mustangs offense seemed to have punched the Titans defense in the mouth early in the first quarter, driving down the field and getting the ball in the end zone. Unfortunately, the score was negated by a penalty and the Mustangs settled for a field goal. The defense held its own against the high-flying Centennial offense, forcing a punt on their first few possessions. Once they finally started driving and got in the red zone, Jamal Jones came up with a crucial interception. The Centennial offense did manage to punch it in for a touchdown on their next possession, but the Mustangs were unable to answer right before the half. The Centennial offense got the ball back with under aminute left in the half and almost completed a Hail Mary pass at the halftime buzzer but it fell incomplete and the Titans led at the half 7-3.

     Coming out of the gate receiving the second half kickoff, the Titans drove right down the field with a heavy dosage of running from Quarterback Kelly Cordova and running back Kamari Burnett mixed in with a couple of screen passes. Burnett punched it in to give the Titans a 14-3 lead. Both teams stalled until late in the fourth quarter when David Blough threw a short touchdown to Markcus Hardy, which ended up being Blough’s final snap in a Mustang uniform. But the score proved to be too little too late as the Titans recovered the onside kick and managed to pick up a few first downs and run out the clock.

What went wrong?

     Offensively, the story of the game was self-inflicted mistakes. Early in the first quarter, the offense had a touchdown called back by a penalty and had to settle for a field goal, something Head Coach Jay Cline admitted was a huge momentum shift in the game. In the third quarter, quarterback David Blough had a long run following a good punt return by Jamal Jones called back by a penalty. That play went from being positive to a couple of penalties later being 2^nd and 35. Not a lot of plays on the call sheet for that. There were also some drops throughout the game, some on screen passes and others on crucial downs like third down.

     Defensively, there were just a lot of missed tackles in key situations, specifically on the Titans drive to start the second half and the Titans final offensive drive in which they were able to pick up two big first down to enable them to run out the clock.

     Special teams was mostly solid, not allowing a lot of big returns but there were a few mistakes. There was one punt return, which was run back by the Titans for a long return starting them in Mustang territory. Kicker Christian Barbosa did miss a field goal wide left, although it was hardly a chip shot. Overall, credit must be given to the Titans coaching staff, as they avoided kicking to the Mustangs dynamic duo of returners in Jamal Jones and Desmond Funches.

*Prayers go out to the injured Titan, who was hurt with 3:30 left in the first half. He lay on the ground for 10-15 minutes before being taken out on a stretcher, giving a thumbs up and drawing a roaring applause from both fan bases. His brother said after the game he was responsive and doing well

Looking ahead:

     Creekview played a very competitive game and as Coach Cline said after the game, they “laid the foundation” for years to come. Creekview's class of 2014 made a lasting impact. David Blough, Markcus Hardy, Jamal Jones, Alex Vasquez, and the rest of the seniors did things the right way and played with heart, something the younger guys can learn from and build upon.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CREEKVIEW MUSTANGS FOR AN IMPRESSIVE SEASON!!!