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Mustang Mash: Mesquite overpowers Sachse in bi-district victory
By DEVIN HASSON, dhasson@starlocalnews.com
RICHARDSON-Mesquite won every game by at least a two-touchdown margin during an undefeated regular season.
But if any opponent had hopes that the Skeeters might have already peaked, they were erased quickly on Friday.
Facing a Sachse team that was coming off its best regular season in school history, Mesquite was dominant, opening a 29-0 halftime lead and rolling to a 50-28 victory in a Class 5A Division bi-district game at Wildcat-Ram Stadium.
"We played well, and I really don't think there was any rust," said Mesquite head coach Robbie Robinson, whose team had a bye last week. "The guys came out ready and focused, just like we've talked about these last two weeks."
The final margin of victory and total stats were not reflective of the way the game played out.
To the Mustangs' (8-3) credit, they went down fighting. With a number of juniors and sophomores who will return, there was experience to be gained for next season.
But while quarterback Kent Myers finished the game with monster numbers-18 carries for 260 yards and four touchdowns-a majority of that came on scoring runs of 70, 47 and 74 yards after Mesquite had called off the dogs when it took a 50-7 lead with 9:41 left in the game.
Prior to that late surge, the Skeeter defense harassed and hit Myers all game long, allowing only 201 yards and one score.
"Coming in, we knew they were a lot like us, they had a lot of weapons and you couldn't load up on any one person," Robinson said. "We really didn't do anything special, I just have to take my hat off to the kids; they stepped up and played well."
The offense, meanwhile, was unstoppable with the exception of three lost fumbles in the first half. Those miscues were the one uncharacteristic mark on the night and it will be something the team will use for the future.
"I asked the guys afterward if it was any rust, and they said it wasn't and it didn't look like it was, you just have to give Sachse credit, they are well-coached and they were very good at stripping the ball," Robinson said. "But that will definitely be a point of emphasis this week because we know going forward, those are the things that can really hurt you."
Mesquite, which never punted, was rarely put in difficult situations, but when it was, quarterback Alex Cooper came through as he has all season long.
The senior converted all six third downs he faced and finished 18-of-24 for 299 yards and two touchdowns.
Mesquite finished the game with 570 total yards, featuring a nearly even mix rushing and passing.
That balance was on display from the start, as the Skeeters used four runs and four passes to move 76 yards and take a 7-0 lead with the help of a lucky bounce. Cooper hit Dameon Gamblin over the middle for a big gain, but Sachse forced a fumble. The ball, however, rolled past two Mustang defenders and Jordan Bracy was there to pounce on it in the end zone for the score.
The rest of Mesquite's touchdowns were far more conventional.
After forcing a three-and-out, Cooper found Gamblin for a 6-yard touchdown and a little later, Tyson Gay had a 1-yard scoring run to make it 21-0 with 55 seconds left in the first quarter.
Sachse finally made a first down for the first time early in the second quarter and threatened to get on the scoreboard before an interception by Anthony Canady, who was playing in just his second game after missing much of the season with an injury.
The Mustangs continued to be aggressive on defense trying to force turnovers and it was working, as Austin Williams, Marcus Hubbard and William Bush all had fumble recoveries to put them in good field position, but the Mesquite defense would not allow it.
Late in the first half, Mesquite stopped shooting itself in the foot and the result was an eight-play, 80-yard drive capped by a short touchdown run by Junior Session.
There was a scary moment when Cooper was hit on the tail end of a 31-yard pass to Dezmon Jackson. He got up holding his lower back and threw short on his next two attempts, but after the touchdown by Session, as the holder, Cooper allayed those fears when he popped up and threw a two-point conversion pass to Javante Wilson that made it 29-0 at halftime.
Mesquite was pinned at its own 3 on its first drive of the second half, but it was the same story as the first. Session rumbled 31 yards to get them out of the shadows of their own end zone and Cooper capped the 97-yard drive with a 4-yard scoring strike to Bracy to extend the lead to 36-0.
Sachse's offense finally broke through with a big play when Myers threw a 50-yard completion to Austin Williams, and followed that up with a 27-yard touchdown run.
That momentum lasted only 10 seconds, though, as Roderick McGruder returned the ensuing kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown to push the lead back to 43-7.
Reed put an exclamation point on the Skeeters' scoring night early in the fourth quarter when he broke through the left side of the defense and raced 96 yards for a touchdown.
And while Myers would provide some highlight moments of his own for Sachse down the stretch, it was far too late.
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