By Van Wade

The Orange Leader

CHANNELVIEW — Kicking the Wharton Tigers directly in the mouth from the opening snap, the West Orange-Stark Mustangs cruised to a decisive 47-15 victory in the Class 4A Region III Division II area round at Maddry Stadium at Channelview High School Friday night.

The Mustangs (11-1) dominated right out of the chute, sprinting out to a 40-2 halftime lead as they dominated the Tigers (8-4) throughout the first 24 minutes.

Mustang quarterback Jack Dallas threw for four first-half touchdowns as the Mustangs piled up 346 yards in the half while limiting the Tigers to just 84 yards. The Mustang defense picked off Tiger quarterback Jimmie Woods three times in the half, two coming from Jarron Morris and they sacked Woods five times.

The Mustangs will face Caldwell in the Region III semifinals next week. Caldwell toppled La Marque 42-39 in a nailbiter Friday night.

“We felt like we had a good game plan coming in and the kids responded big-time to start the game on both sides of the ball,” said Mustang coach Cornel Thompson. “We felt like we could utilize our speed with our short passing game and got some huge plays tonight. We mixed things up well and had them guessing.”

The pressure on Woods paved the way for the WO-S defense.

“We just didn’t want to give him time because they have a lot of speed in their receivers, just like we do,” said Thompson. “We threw a bunch of inside stunts on them and they could never figure it out. This was a big win for us. It doesn’t get any easier next week.”

Dallas finished 16 of 21 for 219 yards. Mustang tailback Jeremiah Shaw had 95 yards on 10 carries and scored two touchdowns. Keion Hancock scored twice, catching three passes for 66 yards and rushing for 46 yards on five carries.

The Mustangs finished with 468 total yards. The Tigers finished with 181 yards as Woods threw two TD passes in the second half late. Woods finished 11 of 22 for 89 yards. Tiger back B.J. Baylor managed 98 yards on 14 carries.

GIDDINGS 45, ORANGEFIELD 7

PEARLAND — A stellar season comes to a close for the Orangefield Bobcats Friday night.

The Cats were out-manned and outsized in the 45–7 blowout loss while mustering just 204 yards on the night against the Giddings Buffaloes. The loss makes the second consecutive season the Bobcats have failed to advance past the 4A area round of the playoffs.

Orangefield received the opening and quickly went three–and–out. Giddings started their first drive at their own 42-yard line. The Buffaloes took just 2 minutes off the clock before quarterback Chabastin Taylor blew past defenders for a 10-yard touchdown run.

The Bobcats struggled to produce any offense and quickly handed the ball back to the Buffaloes to start the second quarter. Treveon Johnson took a reverse around the corner for a 43-yard touchdown run while breaking three tackles in route to the end zone.

Orangefield notched one last score with just 14 seconds left on the clock. Matthew Watkins would end his magnificent season with another passing touchdown. Zach Dischler caught the 8-yard pass after it was deflected up in the air. Watkins had 59 yards rushing along with 24 yards passing and two touchdowns.

The Bobcat defense gave up 354 yards to the Buffaloes with Taylor and Lewis both over the century mark. Giddings moves on to the regional semi-finals where it will play Bellville with date and time to be determined.

— Ronnie Hughes