In a pressure-packed game which had implications on playoff seeding for MUS, the varsity football team finished the regular season with an important win, beating the Saints of Briarcrest Christian School, 17-10, at Briarcrest.
MUS (9-1,4-1) jumped out to an early lead on their first drive against the Saints (4-6,1-4) after a strong defensive stand by going 47 yards on 11 plays to the Briarcrest 9-yard line. But from the 9, the Owls could not capitalize and settled for a 26-yard field goal by Chad Hazlehurst to give them a 3-0 lead.
On the Saints’ next drive, the BCS offense showed they could move the ball against the strong defense of MUS. Led by a relentless rushing attack and a 22-yard completion from QB Michael Blanchard to TE Greg Hardy, the Saints moved the ball 48 yards to the MUS 14-yard line. But from there, the Owl defense stopped the Saints and moved them back to the 20 where they were faced a fourth-down. Adam Melton connected on the 37-yard field-goal attempt to even the score, 3-3, as the first quarter ended.
On MUS’s next drive, the Owl coaches drew up a perfect play. Taking the toss, RB Tyler Massey caught the Briarcrest safety cheating up, so he threw a halfback pass and connected with a wide-open Max Prokell for a 58-yard score to end a 3-play, 72-yard drive. The touchdown reception for Prokell, who finished with five catches for 97 yards, was his eleventh of the year, tying the single-season touchdown reception record set back in 1985. Hazlehurst tacked on the PAT to make the score 10-3 with 11:02 remaining in the half.
However, once again Briarcrest responded nicely with a score of its own. The Saints used a balanced attack to get into Owl territory. From there, Garret Rowland sprinted in from 35 yards to culminate the impressive 6-play, 71-yard drive, and Melton tacked on the PAT to even the score once again. The Briarcrest touchdown was only the second scored on MUS in the second quarter this season.
With pressure on the Owls to respond, the offense put together its third straight scoring drive. After only two offensive plays on the drive, QB Michael Park made a great fake on an end-around and then hit Stephen Bowie for a 46-yard touchdown strike. Hazlehurst nailed the PAT to give the Owls a 17-10 lead.
The Bowie touchdown finished the scoring for the half. Going into the locker room, the Owls knew that they must play better defensively in order to win the game and end the regular season with momentum as BCS had already amassed 167 total yards, just 30 yards off the average which the Owls give up each game.
But in the second half, the Owls accomplished their goal of slowing down the Briarcrest offense. The third quarter was a defensive battle as both defenses dominated and allowed no points or significant yardage gains. MUS held Briarcrest to just 28 yards in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Saints seriously threatened to score twice, but just as it has the entire year, the Owl defense made some big plays when needed.
After having starting on their own 37-yard line to begin the fourth period, the Saints moved the ball into Owl territory once again. But Will Thorton stepped up and intercepted a Blanchard-pass and returned it 28 yards to the Briarcrest 41-yard line.
With the good field position, the Owls hoped to put the game away with another score. However, they were stopped by the Saints’ defense and forced to punt. Drew Alston did his job as his punt pinned the Saints deep in their own territory.
Then, starting on their own 9-yard line with 6:08 left in the game, Briarcrest moved the ball using twelve plays, including nine runs from Blanchard and Taylor Dillon, to the Owls’ 33-yard line. But after the Saints had made five first downs on the drive, the Owl defense had had enough. The defense forced the Saints into a fourth-and-1 on the 33-yard line, but Will Pickens and Mason George ended the threat as they sacked Blanchard for a 17-yard loss as MUS secured the win.
The sack ended the Saints’ playoff hopes as they finished 4-6. The victory increases the MUS series advantage over Briarcrest to 22-6 and clinches the 2-seed in the state playoffs.
The Owls’ next game will be on November 11 at Hull-Dobbs in the Division II, AAA state semifinals. MUS will face the winner of Baylor and MBA, both teams which MUS defeated in the regular season.