The outstanding run for the MUS varsity football team continues.
Led by a defense that recorded its second shutout in three games and an offense that made few mistakes, the Owls looked dominant in running their record to 3-0 for the twenty-first time in the forty-nine years of modern MUS football as they won their road opener over Nashville-rival Montgomery Bell Academy, 24-0, last Friday night.
Though the Owls (3-0, 1-0) led only 6-0 at the half over the Big Red (1-2, 0-1), they had controlled much of the first half as MBA could muster little offensively, and MUS had moved the ball effectively despite not finding the end zone.
The combination of QB Michael Park to WR Stephen Bowie got MUS untracked early as Bowie hauled in four Park passes in the Owls’ first two possessions to soften up the Big-Red defense. Bowie caught passes of 18, 15, and 17 yards on the Owls’ second drive to get MUS to the MBA 16-yard line, but two penalties stalled the drive, and they had to settle for the field-goal attempt, which Chad Hazlehurst connected on from 32-yards out to give the Owls the early lead late in the first quarter.
Hazlehurst again was true about 3 minutes later as he connected on a 26-yard field goal to culminate a 9-play, 40-yard drive that began with an interception by Logan Welch. MUS had a 1st-and-goal from the MBA 9, but two runs and an incomplete pass brought out Hazlehurst for the field goal.
The Big Red never could garner any offensive momentum throughout much of the first half as they could not put together any drives longer than 6 plays. However, they did begin to move the ball late in the half following a Drew-Alston punt.
Starting at their own 22 with just over three minutes to go, MBA converted two long third-downs and crossed midfield for the first time as they ultimately advanced all the way to the Owl 22-yard line with inside one minute remaining. Yet on 1st down, MBA fumbled as QB David Howe could not handle a high snap, and John Stokes recovered to keep the home team off the scoreboard going into the half.
MUS continued their dominance in the second half as MBA never made a serious run. The Big Red could muster only 24 total yards in the third quarter as the Owl defense controlled the line and forced the run-oriented Big Red to throw the ball on almost every down.
While MBA was floundering, MUS added on to their lead as they took advantage of good field position provided to them by the defense. Following a shanked MBA punt that went out-of-bounds at the Big Red 22, the Owls needed only 5 plays to reach the end zone. Park ended the drive with a 1-yard dive, and a Park-to-Doug-Boyer pass on the two-point try increased the lead to 14 with 3:34 left in the third quarter.
Hazlehurst kicked his third field goal of the game early in the fourth quarter as he connected from 32-yards out on the Owls’ next drive that began following a bad snap on a Big-Red punt. MUS reached the MBA 15-yard line, but again two penalties stalled the drive as they settled for the field goal.
Park ended the scoring on the Owls’ next possession as he rumbled 11 yards for the touchdown. The drive began as MUS stopped the Big Red on downs at the Owl 37, and the Owls used nine runs, including eight by Tyler Massey, who gained 73 yards on 16 carries, to score. Hazlehurst’s PAT gave MUS the final 24-point advantage as the Owls salted away the conference victory.
Once again, the defense stood out as MBA never penetrated the MUS 20-yard line. Coach Bubba Burr’s group allowed only a paltry 6 yards rushing and forced the Big Red, who normally like to run the ball, into 42 pass attempts and 21 completions. Conversely, MUS remained very balanced as the early passing success to Bowie and Max Prokell, who ended with 7 catches for 42 yards, opened up running lanes for Massey and Devin Owens.
MUS ended with 131 net yards rushing, which almost met the combined rushing totals for the two games against MBA last season (138 yards). This balance allowed Park to find open receivers, and he was very accurate, connecting on 16-21 passes for 148 yards.
MUS faces another test this Friday night as hometown rival ECS comes to Hull-Dobbs for a 7:00 p.m. kickoff. The Eagles (3-0) will look to avenge last season's 14-10 loss.