The Memorial Titans roll into the postseason with a full head of steam as they rolled to their second straight convincing win, this one a 56-14 dismantling of the Houston Austin Mustangs much to the delight of the Senior Night crowd at Memorial Stadium on Friday. The Titans put it in overdrive in the first half before switching to cruise control in the second half, giving plenty of roster members playing time in the home finale.

The Titans (5-5 overall, 4-3 in District 9-5A Division I) needed just three plays and 58 seconds to get on the scoreboard and never looked back as they piled up 426 yards of offense for the contest, 266 of those on the ground.

Houston Austin (2-8, 1-6) gambled at the start of the game, and it backfired in a huge way. The Mustangs won the coin toss, but elected to defer, as the Titans opted to receive. The Mustangs failed to recover an onside kick, giving Memorial the ball at the Titans’ 49. Three plays later Memorial quarterback Jah’mar Sanders scampered in from 32 yards out to break the ice. Andrez Hernandez added the PAT as the Titans had the lead before the sounds from the Senior Night ceremonies faded away.

Austin cut the Memorial lead to 7-6 a little less than four minutes later on a 61-yard pass from Greg Jones to Demarcus Wiser. The PAT attempt failed, and after that, it was all Titans.  Memorial led 14-6 after one quarter, 42-6 at halftime and 42-14 after three quarters before scoring the only points of the final quarter.

Memorial used a smothering run defense to hold the Mustangs to just 25 yards on the ground on 34 attempts. The Mustangs had 180 yards through the air, thanks in part to their two big scoring plays of 61 and 37 yards.

Memorial, which was locked in as the fourth seed in the division no matter the outcome of Friday’s game, forced seven Austin fumbles, recovering two, and blocked a punt, to win the field-position battle. The Titans often struck quickly, as they held the ball for 20:12, as compared to 27:48 for Austin.

Sanders was 4-of-9 through the air for 133 yards and two TDs in the first half to go along 64 yards and two TDs on six carries in the first half before giving way to Brian Milton, who was 3-of-7 for 27 yards. Milton also had a rushing TD.

THE GAME CHANGED WHEN …

Sanders scored his second TD of the game (both 32-yard runs) to give the Titans a 14-6 lead with 4:18 remaining in the first quarter. That came on the heels of Wiser’s TD for Austin that cut Memorial’s lead to 7-6 less than three minutes earlier. The Mustangs never mustered a serious threat after that.

THE GAME BALL GOES TO …

Memorial running back Adrian Hayward. The sophomore ran for 145 yards and three touchdowns on eight carries. Hayward had scoring scampers of 11, 8 and 29 yards.

UP NEXT …

The Titans open the postseason at 7 p.m. next Friday against the Shadow Creek Sharks (10-0) at Freedom Field in Rosharon. Shadow Creek reached the state finals last season.

— By Pat Murray, Special to The News