By Van Wade

The Orange Leader

WEST ORANGE —  For the second straight week the two-time defending Class 4A Division II state champion West Orange-Stark Mustangs will face a program that is definitely on the rise.

The Mustangs  (11-0) will be entering their seventh straight 4A Region III finals and will look to extend their state-leading winning streak to 39 straight games when they take on the Salado Eagles (12-1) at 7 p.m. Friday at Katy Legacy Stadium.

Both teams are coming off nail-biting wins in the regional semifinals as the Mustangs edged out Madisonville 28-26 and the Eagles toppled Bellville 13-10 in overtime.

Salado’s program has progressed a ton under the direction of Alan Haire the last couple seasons. In 2014 the Eagles were winless at 0-10. They were 1-10 in 2015 and improved to 7-5 last year and went two rounds deep.

“Coach Haire is doing a phenomenal job up there,” said Mustang coach Cornel Thompson. “He brought in his style of play and discipline and their kids have responded. They have a huge senior class with 24 on the roster and 14 of them play a ton. Winning can become addicting and the kids and the town of Salado are really excited. We’ve got a formidable foe for sure come Friday night.”

The Eagles, District 9-4A champions have been explosive all season long with their hard-to-stop Slot-T offense.

The Eagles have rung up 529 points, averaging 40.7 yards a game. They average about 400 yards a game in rushing alone.

The Salado offense is led by quarterback Hayden Haire, the son of the head coach.

“The Haire kid is a solid player and a good leader,” said Thompson. “He has a cool head and he gets it to the right folks. He’s potent on the play-action pass, and we’ll have to be aware of that. Of course, his main objective is to get the ball in the hands of his backs and do they ever  have some good ones.”

Thompson is echoing the facts there as the Eagles sport three 1,000-yard backs, each one of them seniors in fullback Trey Sheppard, halfback Aaron Torczynski and slot back Cade DePoy.

“All three of them bring a lot to the table,” said Thompson. “Sheppard is one of those quick trap guys that can take it the distance. Torczynski, he has a lot of power and picks up some tough yards. DePoy, you have to watch him on those buck sweeps and he can flat-out go.”

Of course, this isn’t the first rodeo for the Mustangs in facing a Slot-T type team. Coach Thompson thinks the Mustangs have played at least 25 Slot-T style teams in the last three years.

However, he does feel Salado is unique in the way they run it.

“They remind us so much of Vidor and how the Pirates run it, that’s why we love to scrimmage Vidor every year,” said Thompson. “Their offensive line is not huge but they’re really athletic, like Coach [Jeff] Mathews has had over the years at Vidor. Their guards like to pull a lot and they flip-flop their linemen when they line up and they attack you fast and they’re great at those buck sweeps. We really like their guards and they have an excellent tackle in Robert Soto. We’re going to have to line up and play good assignment football and also be careful, because unlike a lot of Slot-T teams, they can throw it.”

It was a 25-yard touchdown pass from Haire to Torczynski in overtime that sealed the Eagles’ win over Bellville last week. It was the Eagles’ second overtime game of the season.