Mustangs Blow Off Steam

A 38-yard touchdown run by Stephen Williams keyed a 20-point explosion that led the George Mason High School Mustangs over the larger William Monroe Friday night.

“This will be a common theme throughout the season,” Mason Head Coach Tom Horn said of the size factor. “Like I said after the Falls Church [High School] game, if you’re big and you play big we’ll have trouble with you. If you’re big and you play small then we’ll whip you because we probably have better players. When we had the ball … we just outran them.”

The Mustangs (1-2) scored on their first possession of the second quarter to put the Mustangs up 7-0, but Monroe answered on the ensuing possession on a nine-yard touchdown pass, but failed on the point-after attempt to bring the score to 7-6. Mason scored the next time it touched the ball, with Williams capping off the drive with a one-yard touchdown run, The Mustangs failed on the kick, leaving them with a seven-point lead.

With 1:30 left in the half, the Mustangs broke up three consecutive passes and took over possession on their own 37 yard line with 45-seconds remaining. Junior quarterback Eric Blush completed a 31-yard pass to juniors Travis Greene and 29-yard strike to junior John Schwengel to bring the Mustangs to the three-yard line. From there Schwengel punched the ball in on the ground to bring the score to 19-6 on a three-yard run with six seconds left in the half. Gregg Curtin provided the point-after kick to push the lead to 14 entering halftime.

“Taking a two score lead into the locker room like we did was a very nice bonus,” Mason Head Coach Tom Horn said. “Had they run out the clock it could have changed the way both teams felt going in to the second half. A one score game is very different than a two score game.”

The Mustangs put the game out of reach with another six points on a five-yard touchdown run by senior Mike Isom in the third quarter. Monroe attempted to climb back in the game in the fourth, scoring on a 45-yard pass, but the Mustangs struck back on the following possession, with Williams taking the ball in from two yards away for his third touchdown of the day.

The Mustangs piled up more than 375-yards on the ground, led by Williams 124 yards on 12 carries, and Greene’s 100 yards on 15. Jimmy Piscopo and Matt Lemen chipped in with 48 and 14 rushing yards respectively, while Schwengel had 84.

Blush completed four of five passes for 91 yards.

Mason next faces Covington away at 7:30 p.m. Friday.