MUSTANGS MAKE A STATEMENT | Overton sends message with 40-10 win at rival Carlisle
Did anybody REALLY think that the Overton High School Mustangs, who spent the better part of last football season scoring north of 45 points a game and pummeling folks into submission, then being good sports about it, would drop to 0-2 after losing a head-scratching season opener at home last week?
Yeah, me neither.
And they didn’t.
Overton bounced back, and in a big way, showing up huge on the road in a rare Thursday night game at arch rival Carlisle, scoring 27 first-quarter points and cruising to a 40-10 win over the Indians.
Coach Scotty Laymance’s team looks to be back on track. Overton (1-1) is back on Fridays next week with a trip to James Bowie on Friday the 13th, then hosts Maud at Coach Chester Roy Stadium on Sept. 20.
First thing’s first, though, and let’s talk about Thursday’s game at Carlisle (0-2).
Quarterback Bryce Still took the Mustangs downfield on a 75-yard trip, finishing it up with a 24-yard pass to his good buddy, receiver Jayden Edwards. The key play, according to ETBlitz.com correspondent Ronnie Sartors, was a fourth-down conversion run of 6 yards by Justin Weir. The point after was good, and with nine minutes left in the first quarter, Mustangs 7-0 over the Tribe.
It got much, much, MUCH worse for Carlisle. And never got any better.
Still and the crew put together another long touchdown drive, this one from 83 yards back, and scored. Still took it in himself from 35 yards out with 5:21 left in the first quarter, and the big play on that drive: Edwards again, a 39-yard pass play to him, specifically. Again the extra point was good, and Overton had doubled its lead (14-0).
Edwards would score on the next one himself, a 5-yard jet sweep for the TD – 2:01 left in the first, and the Fighting Jayden Edwards’ were up 21-0 over Carlisle.
The big play on the drive: a 44-yard pass from Still to Jacob Osburn on third and 14 that Carlisle just couldn’t stop. That drive, Sartors noted, came after a fumble recovery.
Overton executed an onside kick and got it, bringing the ball back into the fold.
Incredibly still in the first quarter at this point, Gabe Miller reeled off a 36 yard run – this score with 25 seconds left in the first quarter, and the point after was missed. It left the Mustangs in front, 27-0.
A long kick return almost gave the Indians their first score of the game, and combined with a facemask call, it did set them near the goal line inside the first minute of the second half. Carlisle did score (27-7), and when Overton got the ball back, a taunting penalty, then an interception would keep the Mustangs from adding points.
Carlisle put together a nice drive, a clock-eating drive from its own 17-yard-line to Overton’s 14 was looking like the Indians would end up in the end zone. But no! Overton’s defense stopped the Indians on fourth and 1, taking back possession of the ball, and into halftime with the 27-7 advantage.
Carlisle would get a 36-yard field goal with 7:14 left in the third (27-10), but Overton didn’t really take its foot off the gas. The Mustangs would score twice more: a 32-yard pass from Still to Edwards in the third (34-10), and then a second touchdown by Miller, this one a 28-yarder with 3:08 left that would make it 40-10, for the game’s final score.