Mustangs Fall in Season Finale

The George Mason High School varsity football team visited Strasburg High School last Friday night for its final game of the season and lost 12 – 9 on a night when many area games were postponed due to heavy rains.

“The game was played because it should have been played and we wanted it played,” Mason Head Coach Tom Horn said. “Strasburg’s field was covered for most of the day so there was never really any question.”Still, the playing field was sloppy due to the hard rain that had been falling since the night before. At game time, the storm had tapered off to a light rain that fell throughout the contest.

Since Mason relies heavily on a ground control offense many fans felt that poor playing conditions may benefit Mason, but despite several fumbles, Horn did not feel the turnovers were a result of the rain.

“My guess is that they were a result of some really serious defense on both sides — Travis Greene’s first and only fumble this year was caused by a huge hit unlike any he had taken this year,” Horn said. “He would have fumbled in the Sahara desert with glue on his hands.”On the opening kickoff, Mason sophomore Jim Piscopo got good blocking and advanced the ball to near mid-field. Two long runs by junior Travis Greene, who finished with 109 yards on 17 carries, and senior Steve Williams (19 carries for 125 yards), set up a short touchdown run by Greene putting Mason up 7 – 0.

Strasburg answered right back on a long touchdown march, but Mason denied the conversion and maintained the lead 7 – 6.Mason went right back to work. Greene and senior Matt Lemen gained a combined 43 yards on back-to-back runs putting Mason into Strasburg territory. But a fumble at the start of the second quarter halted Mason’s momentum.

There was a notable scare with less than two minutes to go in the first half. Mason had to punt from its own 30-yard line. In one action-packed play, Strasburg penetrated the line of scrimmage, blocked the punt, scooped up the ball on the bounce, and fumbled the ball at the Mason seven-yard line. Mason recovered the fumble and ran out the clock on the next three plays.Strasburg started the second half in determined fashion. But on the 15th play of its drive, the Rams were halted by a Travis Greene interception at the Mason six-yard line.

Six plays later Strasburg’s defense reversed the momentum after stopping Mason on fourth and inches. Strasburg’s offense took over deep in Mason territory, but fumbled on the very next play with Mason taking control on its own 25-yard line.Mason closed out the third quarter by moving the ball 64 yards. Big plays included a 13-yard pass play from junior quarterback Eric Blush to junior Scott Lemen and a rumbling 39-yard run by Williams that got Mason to the Strasburg 22-yard line. A penalty on Strasburg, half the distance to the goal line, tacked onto the end of Williams’ run, sweetened field position by placing the ball at the Strasburg 11-yard line. But, four plays and one penalty later, Mason could not pick up the first down and turned the ball over on downs at the Strasburg 12-yard line.

With less than seven minutes remaining in the game, clinging to a 7 – 6 lead, Mason gave up two big plays to Strasburg that led to the winning score. Strasburg picked up 42 yards on a well-timed screen pass and immediately followed that with a 33-yard pass play down the left sideline. Starting from the Mason eight-yard line Strasburg scored just two plays later with the conversion failing.

Mason had a final opportunity to score. Starting from its own 47-yard line, Mason drove the ball to the Strasburg 20-yard line but suffered an illegal motion penalty and could not pick up the first down. Strasburg took over deep in its own territory and took a two-point safety making the final score 12 – 9.

“This may be hard to believe but the field conditions were not a factor at all,” Horn said. “What was a factor was our continued inability to recover from our mistakes. Our offense simply did not make enough plays when we faced a little adversity. Third down and 10 may as well have been third and 50.”

Mason ends its season with an overall record of 5 – 5; 2 – 2 in the Bull Run District.“[This season] we lost to four Region B playoff teams and in every game we had opportunities,” Horn said. “A big play on defense, a special teams break, or a key third-down conversion and we’re 8-2 and hosting a playoff game on Friday. Without those things we’re 5-5, with five ‘quality’ losses sitting at home.”