On Friday night the McCracken County Mustangs would return to Marquette Stadium, as they played host to the Northeast Eagles of Clarksville, Tennessee in week three. Thanks to a high-powered offensive display, the Mustangs were able to break into the win column for the first time this season, rolling over the Eagles for a 65-26 victory.
“It’s awesome to get that first win,” McCracken County head coach Tyler Brooks said. “Our kids were ready from the start, came out, did their jobs, and the scoreboard took care of itself.”
After starting off the game with a big defensive stop, the Mustangs wasted little time jumping out to an early lead. Marching down the field, Maddox O’Neal would connect with Reed Brookshire from 12 yards out for the 7-0 lead. While the Eagles fired straight back with a 25-yard touchdown of their own, a missed point-after attempt would keep McCracken ahead, 7-6.
Towards the end of the first half, Elijah Pullen would punch in a three-yard run to cap off an efficient drive, putting the Mustangs ahead by two possessions. With their defense suffocating Northeast well into the second quarter, McCracken would again find the end zone to extend their lead, with O’Neal getting around the edge on a 15-yard keeper to make it 21-6.
While the Eagles cut into the deficit, scoring a pair of touchdowns throughout the second, the Mustang offense continued to tick, keeping the lead in tact. In addition to a field goal, Pullen would pick up his second touchdown of the night from four yards out, as the Mustangs took a 31-19 lead into halftime.
Heading into the second half, the Mustangs would be down a key man due to injury, now having to finish the job without O’Neal. However, Cole Presswood, who took over late in the second quarter, quickly made his presence felt on the opening drive of the third. After a couple of small gain, Presswood would connect with Jakari Matchem downfield for a 25-yard touchdown reception, and a 38-19 lead.
From there, the Mustangs would continue to roll on either side of the ball, pulling further away. On the other side of a 20-yard rushing touchdown for Dawson Hayden, Presswood and Matchem would link up again, with the freshman finding the sophomore from 15 yards out to make it 51-19 by the end of the third.
Presswood would throw for his third touchdown in the fourth, finding a diving Jude Lanier in the back of the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown. That, combined with Pullen’s third rushing touchdown of the night would seal things up for the Mustangs, as the clock bled dry on a 65-26 victory.
“This just shows you how much of a team we are. Maddox goes down, and the O-line rallies around Cole and gets it done,” Brooks said. “A huge kudos to our O-line, they put on a show and Cole didn’t get touched, it just goes to show how prepared we were tonight.”
Looking at the Mustangs’ offense, which totaled 517 yards, Presswood had completed 9 of his 16 passes for three touchdowns by the end of the night, while O’Neal went 13 of 22 with the one touchdown. Lanier would lead the Mustangs’ receivers with 102 yards on six receptions, closely followed by Matchem with 99 on seven. Looking towards the running game, Hayden racked up 137 yards on 16 carries, while Logan Alaimo had 50 across seven carries.
“This is absolutely the kind of performance we were looking for,” Brooks said, lauding the offensive effort. “We did a great job of spreading things out, keeping [Northeast] off balance, and they just didn’t have a lot of answers for us.”
Defensively, the Mustangs kept the Eagles to 292 total yards, coming down with a pair of interceptions through Hayden and Kaine Rose.
Next up for the Mustangs, they’ll look to keep things rolling after the win, as they face a stiff test in the Mayfield Cardinals on the road.
“If you can’t find momentum off of a win like this, something’s wrong,” Brooks concluded. “But it’s a tough matchup next week. Mayfield’s always tough, we have to go down to War Memorial, and we haven’t always done great on the road. It’s a big challenge ahead of us, but we’re looking forward to attacking it.”
Kick-off between the Mustangs and Cardinals from War Memorial Stadium is set for next Friday at 7 p.m.