The George Mason High School freshman football team hosted Strasburg High School Wednesday of last week and pitched a 35 – 0 shutout. It was a dominant display by the Mason Mustangs, as they rolled up over 400 yards for the game, with two running backs gaining over 100 yards each.

The Strasburg Rams started out the game smartly, moving the ball down to the Mason eight-yard line, before eventually turning the ball over on downs following a huge stop by the Mustang defense.

It was all Mason after that.

On the very next play, Mason’s first offensive play of the game, freshman Ben Taylor took a handoff 92 yards for a touchdown. Taylor later added another score in the second quarter, that one a 27-yard run.

Mason’s other running back, freshman James Bledsoe, added two touchdown runs of his own. The first came in the middle of the first quarter, a 65-yard run, and the second at the end of the first quarter, a 35-yard run.

On the other side of the ball, the defensive line looked stout, producing two fumbles — one each by freshmen Sebastian Zorn and Wyatt McMullen. 

Freshman Ben Stewart looked good at quarterback again this week, especially in the third quarter, hooking up on a beautiful 34-yard pass play to freshman receiver Jamal McLean. Mason freshman Manuel Veiga-Diaz converted all five point-after-touchdown kicks.

The tremendous success of Mason’s running attack speaks well of the performance by the Mustangs’ offensive line. According to the coaching staff, this squad is one of the smartest it has ever coached.

“Our players are visual learners — and I’ve never experienced anything like it before,” Mason Head Coach LaBryan Thomas said. “Usually the coaching staff is used to the ‘Talk it — Walk it — Run it — Repeat it’ approach to coaching. This group of players devours film. All I have to do is introduce an idea for a couple of minutes and then let them watch film for an hour. After that, the players are diagramming the plays we need to run, and with very little effort from the coaching staff, they go out on the field and execute exactly what they need to do. It’s amazing — and the blocking so far has been outstanding.”

The Mason freshman team plays at home next Wednesday against Bull Run District rival Rappahannock County High School. Game time is at 6:30 p.m. at Moore Cadillac Stadium.