OVERTON’S COMEBACK MUSTANGS | The Goudarzi & Young, LLP / ETBlitz.com Team of the Week!
When Mount Enterprise’s Kaegan Ash crossed the goal line, then scored a two-point conversion to put the Wildcats in front of Overton 24-0 last Friday night, to say things looked bleak for the Mustangs would have been a drastic understatement.
Kind of like saying, that ol’ Elvis Presley, he was an OK singer.
But before long, Overton had a touchdown pass from Bryce Still to Jayden Edwards, then a two-point conversion. Mount Enterprise upped its lead to 32-8, but then before halftime, Overton scored again, and was down 16 (32-16).
And in the second half, the Mustangs’ offense kept clicking. The Mustangs’ defense turned into a shut-down green machine. Coach Scotty Laymance and the coaching staff were hitting on call after call. The momentum shifted completely to Overton.
The end result: an incredible 45-44 Overton win in overtime.
And for that, as we’ll discuss more shortly, the Overton High School Mustangs are the Goudarzi & Young, LLP / ETBlitz.com Team of the Week for Oct. 28 through Nov. 2!
The first half was a dark cloud on Overton’s sideline, to be sure. Ash, the Wildcats’ monstrous running back, looked like Baltimore’s Derrick Henry out there, running for touchdown after touchdown, it seemed, and two-point conversions, as well. And then Mount Enterprise was successful with an onside kick.
Before long, the Wildcats’ lead had snowballed up to 24-0, then 32-8.
But great players tend to rise up under pressure.
Overton’s offensive line – Garrett Boney, Elijah Dorsey, Vance Fletcher, Chris Foster and Eathen Oates – formed a wall in front of Still and running backs Gabriel Miller and Justin Weir. And defensively, the Mustangs suddenly were not only stopping Ash, they were stopping anybody in a Mount Enterprise uniform.
Still, on a rushing touchdown after big plays by himself, Edwards and Weir, scooted into the end zone to get Overton within a score, 32-24, with six minutes left in the third quarter.
The defense stopped ME on downs to hand the ball back to the Mustangs’ offense, and after a pass to Edwards and a 9-yard run by Miller, Overton was in business again at the Wildcats’ 16-yard-line.
Somehow, the Wildcats’ defense lost track of Rylan Holleman – how do you do that, exactly? – and Holleman hauled in the TD pass from Still on the next play, with 2:11 left in the quarter. The conversion failed, but Overton, who had trailed by THREE TOUCHDOWNS and a field goal in the second quarter, was suddenly down by just two, 32-30, as the fourth quarter started.
Mount Enterprise turned the ball over on downs yet again, as Overton’s defense was allowing not much of anything in the second half, and on the Mustangs’ next possession, a pair of runs by Still and Miller left them at the Wildcats’ 15-yard-line.
After a holding call, Still completed a pass to Bryson Bobbitt all the way to the 5, and Still scored on the next play. Overton was in the LEAD, 36-32!
Edwards caught a pass for the two-point conversion, and gave the Mustangs a six-point lead.
In the movies, the bad guy is never done without one last comeback, and that’s exactly what happened. Mount Enterprise scored with 1:18 left, a run by Tracey Thompson, and although the missed the conversion that would’ve given them the lead back, Thompson’s touchdown tied the game at 38.
Overton’s final possession in regulation didn’t result in points, so off we went to overtime.
Mount Enterprise, as luck would have it, got the ball first, and scored, another touchdown by Thompson. The Wildcats had re-claimed the lead, 44-38 (they missed on the conversion), had the home field, and it seemed like were back in control.
Oh, no, Still seemed to say, as he brought the offense back on the field.
Edwards grabbed the ball, flipped to him by Still, and picked up 14 yards to the Wildcats’ 11, and then Weir was back, behind that big line, and bolted all the way to the 1.
Still scored on the next play to tie the game – and then coach Laymance did something neither coach had done in regulation.
He opted to kick the extra point.
A freshman, Jackson Furlow, trotted out on the field, and with what seemed like no nerves at all, kicked the game-winner, the only extra point of the contest, a 45-44 final that sent the Mustangs and their fans into celebration.
In the end, even though Mount Enterprise got 240 rushing yards and two scores from Ash, 70 yards and three touchdowns from Thompson and 112 yards and a TD from Aadin Alsup, Overton had a win for the ages, thanks to halftime adjustments, lights-out defensive play and just a business-as-usual night from the Overton offense.
Still went 24-of-29 with one interception, but for 255 yards and three touchdowns, and ran for 88 yards and three scores, as well. Weir had 85 yards and a couple of two-point conversions; Miller had 43 hard-fought rush yards; Holleman caught five balls for 46 yards and the score; and Edwards, great as always, had 13 catches for 161 yards and the two TDs.
Defensively, Weir went nuts: 20 total tackles and one for loss. Oates had 14 tackles, and Holleman had 14 as well, one for loss. Gunnar Whitfield had 11, one for loss, and Still and Mason Rowe each had 10 tackles.
Still had a caused fumble and a fumble recovery, and Braxton Harper also had a fumble recovery. Boney and Dorsey on defense each had a caused fumble.
And Furlow had that all-important extra point.
The Mustangs are now 7-2 overall, 4-1 in District 11-2A, Division I, and that’s second in the standings to Lovelady, unbeaten in the district. Overton’s only loss was to Lovelady.
Overton will finish its regular season on Friday, at home at Coach Chester Roy Stadium against 2-7 Cushing, and then get set for a run in the UIL Class 2A playoffs.
Congratulations to coach Scotty Laymance and the Overton Mustangs, the Goudarzi & Young, LLP / ETBlitz.com Team of the Week!
The award, of course, is brought to you by Goudarzi & Young, the premier law firm not only in the state of Texas, but the nation.
And here’s why. To reach Goudarzi & Young, LLP, and their unbelievable staff, go to Goudarzi & Young, L.L.P., or click on the Goudarzi & Young logo above.