The George Mason High School JV football team lost last week at home to Madison County High School in a high-octane offensive thriller that finally ended with a score of 34 – 28.

The high scoring by the Mountaineers offense has been a trend for the past two years. Madison won last year’s game by a score of 40 – 0 and the year before by a 29 – 0 margin. This year the Mustangs' offense proved more worthy than in years past, but Mason still couldn't put the brakes on a scorching hot Madison offense.

The game first appeared to be following its past trend of a lopsided Madison victory, as the Mountaineers took an early 14 – 0 lead. However, the Mustangs responded with two scores of their own to pull even. Another score by Madison though gave the Mountaineers a 20-14 lead at halftime.

In second half both teams traded scores for a total of four second half lead changes. But it was Madison that would score last to snatch away the victory from Mason.

In other games this year, fans have become accustomed to seeing some pretty good defensive play from Mason, but against Madison, that was not the case.

“Tonight it was our offense that kept us in the game. Uncharacteristically, for this game, it was not our defense,” Mason Head Coach LaBryan Thomas said.

“A lot of our younger guys were forced into action because of minor injuries and the flu. And we weren’t getting to the ball the way we should have,” Thomas expounded.

Consequently, Mason had to rely heavily on a lot of on-field leadership and playmaking from some of the older players including Yates Jordan, Quinn Casteel, Tyler Hall and Ben Taylor.

The Mustang JV squad’s next contest is an away game against the Eagles of Clarke County High School on Monday, Oct. 22. The Mustangs conclude their season with a home game against Manassas Park High School on Monday, October 29. Game time is at 6:30 p.m. Admission for JV contests is free.