Mustangs Drop to 6-2

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by Coach Brown

The West Grand Football team fought defending league champions Vail Christian to the final play last Friday night but could never gain any advantage, losing 50-36. The Saints’ senior QB, Taylor Shull accounted for 7 TDs, running for 3 and throwing for 4. It didn’t take long for Vail to discover the Mustangs were missing starting defensive backs Wyatt Howell and Joe Probst, and they proceeded to utilize the pass and fly sweep action to perfection. 

The first quarter had the Mustangs down only 16-12 as they matched the Saints’ 2 scores with a Wyatt Shearer to Cooper Martinson 12-yard TD pass and a Shearer 32-yard TD run. 

As in last week’s loss to Hayden, the 2nd quarter was all Vail. They scored 3 touchdowns while holding the Mustangs to zero. A successful onside kick gave them two straight possessions, and they scored on both. A third drive was stopped a yard short by a great goal-line stand. Wyatt Shearer had a 40-yard run to get out of trouble but an illegal block nullified that effort. The offense then bowed down and was forced to punt. The Saints quickly scored just before the half to take a commanding 38-12 lead.

The 2nd half saw the Mustangs drive 80 yards using almost 8 minutes and ending in a 4th down TD pass, Shearer to Jackson Steinle. The game highlight was a pass to guard Chris Wellington who made a one-handed catch while being tightly covered for 32 yards to the one. The Mustang defense tried everything to stop #15 and had them in two 4th down situations on the following drive but failed to stop him as they scored with 11 minutes left in the game to make it 44-20.  

The Mustangs added 2 scores in the 4th quarter on a Shearer to Ollie Bergman 33-yard TD pass and a Varian Villabous 1-yard TD run. Evan Crandall led the defense with 14 tackles.

The Mustangs will end the regular season on Senior Night Friday vs Plateau Valley. They want to get back to their winning ways with a possible playoff berth at stake. Currently, they stand 15th in the seeding index and a win would give them a chance to remain in the top 16.