The George Mason Mustangs varsity football team fell to 1-2 on the season after losing 40-0 to the Warren County Wildcats.
It was a tightly contested game in the first half and the Mustangs were holding their own, but failed to capitalize on a couple of opportunities.
The Wildcats were leading 7-0 midway through the second quarter when senior running back Gage Steele plowed up the middle for a five yard touchdown run. After the extra point it was a 14-0 Wildcats.
The Mustangs offense did their best to answer on their next possession and put their best drive of the game together. It started on their own 24 yard line with 5:59 left in the first half.
Sophomore quarterback Grant Hagler completed some big passes on the drive. Hagler connected for 11 yards to senior Dimitrios Venets to convert a third and 10. Then he connected with another Mustangs senior Bryce Cooper to pickup another first down into Wildcats territory. The drive ended with Hagler getting sacked on fourth down by Steele.
Then the Mustangs defense stepped up and forced a Wildcats fumble, which they also recovered. That gave the Mustang offense a first down on the Wildcats 33 yard line with about a minute to go in the half, but they were unable to cash in on their opportunity. The first half ended with the Wildcats leading 14-0.
It appeared the Mustangs had gained some momentum with the way the first half ended, and with receiving the ball to start the second half, they looked to be in good shape.
In the span of seven nightmarish minutes to start the second half the Mustangs saw their 14 point deficit balloon to 40 points. It all started with the opening kickoff of the second half when a Mustangs kick returner froze and failed to field the kick while he watched Wildcats senior Quail Robinson recover it.
The Wildcats had a first down on the Mustangs 28 yard line. After two runs by Steele, the Wildcats extended their lead to 21-0 over the Mustangs.
The next two Mustangs offensive possessions totaled just three plays and both ended with the Wildcats recovering fumbles deep in Mustangs territory. The Wildcats missed a field goal on one and senior Gage Steele scored a touchdown on the other to make it 28-0.
The Wildcats would tack on two more touchdowns, but miss an extra point and two point conversion attempt to complete the scoring, all of which transpired in the first seven minutes of the third quarter.
The Mustangs will travel to play Central-Woodstock High on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.