ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST | Overton runs Tenaha out of Coach Chester Roy Stadium, 70-28
OVERTON – Forty-eight hours of much-needed rain set the stage at Coach Chester Roy Stadium for a saturated district clash between the home-team Overton Mustangs and the visiting Tenaha Tigers.
The field, being all natural, was visibly and inevitably going to create havoc on both runners and receivers. The conditions warranted an old-school ground-and-pound mentality that would end up serving the home team well. Overton’s duo of running backs Gabriel Miller and Justin “Boots” Weir would spearhead the Mustang attack as they would combine for seven (!) touchdowns in a 70-28 dismantling of the visiting Tigers.
Coach Scotty Laymance’s Mustangs were successful and now sitting at 5-1 overall, 2-0 in district play and tied at the top of the district with 3-2 Grapeland team that is also 2-0 in district.
The Tigers drop to 3-3 and 1-1 in district play and sit in third behind Grapeland and Overton. Overton’s next matchup will be at Cross Roads on October 8, while Tenaha will play host to Grapeland on October 10.
The sea of green in the home stands was excited Friday night, homecoming adding to the atmosphere. But as the players entered the field, it became very obvious that the prior rains were going to be a factor. The game began cautiously for both teams as they struggled to find their footing.
After a couple possessions, Overton began to gain confidence, find their footing and feed off their electric crowd. The Mustangs took the lead in the first quarter behind two rushing touchdowns from Miller.
The second and third quarters played host to all the action as Overton would become relentless. Behind multiple onside kicks, the Mustangs would score six more times in the middle two quarters.
The Overton Mustangs got three touchdowns from Justin “Boots” Weir, who, by the way, is obviously a crowd favorite as each time he touched the ball a cascade of “BOOTS” would roar from the crowd.
Quarterback Brooks Davis connected with wide receiver Jackson Furlow for his first touchdown pass of the evening. Davis would also begin the third quarter with a touchdown pass to Jacob Osburn, who would also find himself back in the end zone once again in the fourth quarter.
The coaching staff at Overton chose to kick onside kicks after almost every score. It seemed like a risky strategy to leave the opponents with such good field position, but the home side’s defense proved to be ready for the challenge. The Mustang D created multiple turnovers and bent a few times, but never broke. Once the Mustangs found their footing they never looked back en route to a 70-28 victory.
The Tigers looked to be ready for the challenge as they warmed up pregame. However.they walked in a homecoming Friday buzzsaw that proved to be too much on this night.
Early on Tenaha struggled to find its footing both literally and figuratively. An early interception thrown by quarterback Clayton Creech would lead to a scoreless first quarter for the visitors.
Tenaha would briefly fight back in the second quarter behind rushing touchdowns from Creech and running back Makias Norris. The Tigers added a third touchdown on a pass from Creech to wideout Kori Miles.
The half ended 41-21 Overton, with the visitors still within striking distance. But, as the third quarter began, this dream of a comeback would come to an abrupt end.
Tenaha fumbled away their first possession of the second half, and end up turning the ball over on downs on their next possession. As the third quarter came to a close, Creech connected with receiver Ty’darryn Landon for 44 yards and last taste of the end zone for Tenaha Friday evening. The Tigers would be completely shut down in the fourth quarter.
The fourth was mired in yellow laundry thrown by officials to take control of what became a very chippy final frame. Multiple unsportsmanlike and personal foul penalties littered the quarter from both teams and their benches.
The game began slowly, and it looked like this may be a low scoring ball control kind of night. The visitors punted on both of their first possessions and Overton had a turnover on downs from a slippery ball that was dropped multiple times by wide receivers on both teams.
Overton finally broke through as they worked rapidly out of the no huddle and pushed the ball down the field leading to a 8-yard TD run by Miller. Overton followed this score with an onside kick, recovered by the Tigers.
The visitors could not take advantage of the good field position as Creech would be intercepted by Slate Butler. Overton would score a second time on another 9-yard run by Miller. Overton’s defense stiffened up and keep a clean slate through the first, culminating at 13-0.
The second quarter ushered in a scoring frenzy. The teams would combine for 49 points in the quarter.
Tenaha retained possession from the end of the first quarter and into the second with a scoring drive. A nice screen pass and a big run from Miles would lead to an 8-yard TD run by Norris.
Overton answered quickly with a 64-yard run by Furlow, off the right end. Back and forth we go as Tenaha took advantage of good field position as Creech rolled right and hit Miles in the end zone for a touchdown.
With 8:09 left in the second, it was tight, 20-14. Overton got a huge return on the ensuing kickoff, which was negated by a holding call. Nevertheless, the Mustangs swiftly drove the ball down to the Tenaha 3, where Boots Weir scored his first of four touchdowns.
On the following kickoff, the Mustangs recovered an onside kick and drive down the field leading to another Weir touchdown. The subsequent kickoff was another onside kick recovered by the home team, which led to Weir’s third touchdown of the quarter, a 21-yard blast straight up the gut, to the house.
In the blink of an eye the game had swelled to 41-14 Overton, and the game had been blown open.
On the final possession of the half, a screen pass blown up by the home team’s defense, and tempers begin to flare as offsetting personal fouls begin the numerous sea of penalty flags that followed in the second half.
The Tigers, aided by penalties, were able to get into position for Creech to sneak it in on a 3-yard run. Overton got the ball back one last time, but ultimately the half would end 41-21.
The second half brought more of the same highs for the Mustangs and lows for the Tigers.
The Mustangs would score on their first possession of the third quarter on a short pass from Brooks Davis to Osburn. Osburn, who had trouble early in the game with a couple of drops, made up for it with his stellar play, making an impact on both offense and defense.
The Tigers’ first possession of the second half would end in a fumbled handoff that was recovered by Wyatt Mosley. The home team pushed their way to the goal and Miller would end up pounding it in from the 1 for his third touchdown of the evening.
The following two possessions, one by each team, would both end up as turnovers on downs as both teams would fail to pick up the fourth down conversions. Tenaha got the ball one last time in the quarter, which led to a beautiful 44-yard pass from Creech to Ty’darryn Landon, as the buzzer sounds for the end of three quarters of action and a score of 56-28 Overton.
The fourth quarter completely dominated by the home team. This quarter ultimately was littered with penalties as both teams were showing depths of the rivalry between the two programs.
Tenaha tried to begin the fourth with an onside kick, but after being recovered by the home team this would prove to do nothing more than set them up with great field position.
Osburn had another catch-and-run from 43 yards out. Tenaha’s response would ultimately end with a turnover on downs.
Overton would take advantage and drive the ball for their final score of the evening.
This is where the game got a little messy. An unsportsmanlike penalty from the bench of the visitors and multiple personal fouls on both teams on this drive took attention away from what was to be a statement win for the home team. The final scoring drive would end with a powerful 17-yard run from “Boots” Weir.
Once the home team found a rhythm the combination of no huddle, onside kicks and a stingy defense proved to be too much for visiting Tenaha. Overton looks to be quite the force in 2A-Division II, and made a statement Friday night putting the rest of the district on notice.
