OVERTON WINS! | Mustangs take down Mart, will face Grapeland in Athens on Friday at 6
How ‘bout them Mustangs? How ‘bout that win?
How ‘bout Mart went down?!?
Overton High School’s Mustangs shocked the state of Texas Friday night, taking out a Mart Panthers team that has been one of the top three dominant teams in UIL’s Class 2A for the last decade.
Coach Scotty Laymance’s Mustangs got a 24-yard field goal from freshman Jackson Furlow to go in front of the Panthers, 31-30, at Kemp High School Friday night, with just 10 seconds left. Mart couldn’t reply, and it’s Overton! Overton! Overton – with its fifth straight win, moving on to round three of the 2A, Division II playoffs!
The Mustangs (10-2 on the season) will face a district rival, Grapeland, this coming Friday, a 6 p.m. kickoff, at Bruce Field in Athens. Overton will be the visitors. All tickets are $5, with Texas High School Coaches Association passes, District 11-2A, Division II passes and senior citizens passes all accepted.
Overton defeated Grapeland, 41-36, back on Sept. 27, in Grapeland. ETBlitz.com is awaiting details from coach Laymance, and when we have them, they’ll be posted here, and on our social media.
Overton avenged a loss to Mart in the second round a year ago with the win, and for Furlow, it’s his second huge kick of the season: he had a walk-off field goal to defeat Mount Enterprise, 45-44, back on November 1, a key win that helped Overton wrap up second place in District 11-2A, DI, behind Lovelady – who lost, by the way, on Friday night to Bremond, 34-14.
Mart scored with 2:28 left in the game to take a 30-28 lead in a back-and-forth battle.
But Overton’s offense put them back in position to win – and quickly. With 1:07 left, it was running back Justin Weir who broke free and set the Mustangs up at Mart’s 15-yard-line.
Overton managed a first-and-goal at the Mart 3, but couldn’t push it in on the first three downs. Trailing by only two, Laymance put his trust in Furlow to go hit the game-winning field goal.
Furlow, who apparently has ice in his veins, marched out, booted the field goal like it was no big deal, and gave Overton the lead with 10 seconds left over a Mart program that won three state titles between 2017-19, and has lost the state championship game the last three years. The Panthers have played in every UIL Class 2A, DII state title game for six years running – but they WON’T be in this year’s.
For Overton in the game, quarterback Bryce Still was 14-of-20 for 246 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, and ran for 78 yards and two more touchdowns on 17 carries. On defense, he had an interception, and three tackles.
Bryson Bobbitt had a big night against the Panthers: seven catches for 111 yards and a score. Jacob Osburn had two for 69 yards and Still’s other touchdown pass. Rylan Holleman had three for 22 yards and a two-point conversion, and Jayden Edwards, two for 44.
Weir had four carries on the night for 19 yards, but none more important than to help the Mustangs get into field goal range on that final drive. Gabriel Miller had 7 yards on two carries.
Miller and Weir combined for 25 tackles on defense: Miller with 13, and one for loss, and Weir for 12. Holleman and his younger brother, Kash, each had nine tackles; Kash had one for loss. Brody Brown had six stops. Elijah Dorsey had five, and one for loss.
