When the Mustangs look back at Friday’s heartbreaking 7-6 loss at Red Oak, they could point to many things that could have turned the outcome around.
They had three drives inside their opponents’ 10-yard line where they came away with no points, they had some costly pass interference penalties which helped the Tigers to their lone score and they turned the ball over two times.
However, inevitably when people think back to the game their thoughts will immediately go back to the controversial call on a Jose Rendon field goal attempt in the final seconds that would have given the Mustangs the game.
With the Mustangs trailing by one point and 20.9 seconds remaining in the game, Rendon attempted a 27-yard field which had plenty of distance and to everyone on the Shenandoah sideline appeared to go through the uprights.
After a few seconds without a call, the officials finally decided the kick was no good. Shenandoah Brett Roberts said he was among those who thought the freshman kicker had just sealed the game for the Mustangs, but also refuses to say that call cost them the game.
“From my angle it looked good, but the official is right there and he has a better view than I do, so I guess it wasn’t,” he explained of the call. “The kids on the field said it was good by about two feet. But we shouldn’t have been in that position where the officials had to make the call. I told the kids, ‘Take the officials out of the game.’ We had our chances and we were our own worst enemy tonight.”
Shenandoah looked good early in the game as they drove the ball down the field and set up shop from the 3-yard line with first down. The drive was keyed by a 22-yard catch by tight end Jordan Poe from quarterback Kyle Sparks.
However, a sack moved the ball back to the 8-yard line and the Mustangs were able to push it back up to the one, where they were stopped on a fourth down play.
That was a sign of things to come for Shenandoah.
“We get inside the 10 three times and don’t score any points – that’s not the way you win games,” Roberts said. “We have to find a way to punch it in the end zone when we impose our will and drive it down the field. Winners finish drives.”
After the Tigers’ goal line stand, they established what was their only sustained drive of the night. A 25-yard catch by Dakota White on third and eight was the key play in the drive. Seth Esaias finished it off with an 11-yard touchdown catch. The Jose Perez extra point made it 7-0.
“We’ve come a long way defensively and the kids have bought into the system and they’re doing their jobs,” Roberts said. “It’s something good to see. If our defense keeps playing well, we’re going to be in a lot of games.”
The Mustangs answered with a drive of their own mostly through the air. Tyler McCoy took a screen pass 17 yards, and Drew Bayless hauled in a 15-yard catch down to the 10-yard line. Unfortunately for the Mustangs, Matt Goracke picked off the next pass, ending the Shenandoah threat just before halftime.
“At that point we’ll try to get a touchdown, but we’ll settle for a field goal,” Roberts explained. “Sparks got flushed and just came up a little short on the throw.”
In the second half, Nick Allely and the Shenandoah running game took control. Allely took a handoff and made a sharp cut left and raced down the sidelines 66 yards to pay dirt midway through the third quarter. The Mustang senior had over 100 yards on the ground in the half alone.
However, a bobbled snap on the extra point forced Sparks to try to scramble to make a throw which fell incomplete and left the Mustangs trailing by a point, 7-6.
The Shenandoah defense rendered the Tiger offense obsolete in the second half, as they tried unsuccessfully on several long pass attempts. Poe was very effective applying pressure on the quarterback, while Allely and McCoy made several tackles from their linebacking spots.
“I am very proud of my defense,” Roberts said. “(Red Oak) probably had more yards in penalties than offensive yards. We shut down their offense, and in the second half they really didn’t get anything.”
The Mustangs took control of the ball early in the fourth quarter and looked destined to take the lead. Allely had runs of 10, 12, 5 and 6 yards to set up a first and goal on the 6-yard line.
Again the Mustangs shot themselves in the foot, this time by fumbling the ball and Geoffrey Sellers recovered for Red Oak.
“We lost the game,” Roberts said. “For the first time in a long time we were definitely better than the team and we cost ourselves the game. I guess you can take some good from that, knowing we have come a long ways.”
The Mustang defense was able to come up with another stop and force a Red Oak punt, giving them one final opportunity to win the game.
“We forced them to punt at the end and got the ball back in our offense’s hands,” said Roberts.
Shenandoah was again able to march down the field and set up the controversial field goal attempt.
Roberts said his squad doesn’t take a moral victory from Friday, but he does think it can be a useful learning tool.
“You can go one of two ways, we have seven games left and they are the most important seven games,” he explained. “You can go the route of feeling sorry for yourself and crying about some of the calls that went against us and throw the whole rest of the season down the drain, or you can use this for motivation and let that fire from this game burn in your stomach all week and release it on Interstate 35 Friday.”
Roberts went on to say that he fully expects the team to chose the latter option.
“A competitor uses this as motivation,” he said. “I know that’s what I’m going to do, that’s what our coaching staff is going to do and I expect and hope our kids will do the same thing.
“When it comes down to it we still lost the game. These kids have to find that little extra something that wins you these games to turn our program around and get it headed where we want it to be.”
The Mustangs will host Interstate 35 at 7 p.m. next Friday.
For pictures from the game click here.
