The Staley Football Blue Team had a thrilling game against Cobb last night.  Staley lost a heartbreaker.  The Staley Mustangs started off the night really well; using a strong running game headed by #21 to move the ball down the field. The Mustangs scored on a 30 yard run by #21 just past the halfway mark in the first quarter.  A high snap on the PAT kick had the holder looking for a way to the end zone before being brought down short.  The Mustang lead was 6-0.

The Mustang defense was tough on the run.  Cobb was getting no where, so they took to the air.  The first throw was  tipped by a jumping #11 on the Mustangs.  The Cobb receiver bobbled it, but wound up with a catch, being tackled immediately by #2. The Cyclones got a first down on the twenty yard line.  The second toss had Staley's corner #1 jumping up for the catch, the ball just passed over his fingertips into the arms of the Cobb  receiver who took it in for six.  The PAT kick was good and Cobb had the lead 8-6.

Both teams went three and out.  Staley had a drive stopped due to an interception.  The defense held Cobb to minimum yards and they punted, the Mustang player touched the ball and had it bounce away from him, and Cobb scrambled to fall on it.  The Cyclones had a short field and scored a few plays later.  Staley blocked the PAT kick so the score was Cobb 14 to Staley 6.  The Mustangs were making progress down the field, behind the running attack with #21, but time expired for the first half. 

The Staley Mustangs got the ball at the opening of the second half, but went three and out.  The Staley defense stayed tough all night, including this series.  A big hit by #2 on Cobb's fourth down had Staley getting the ball back.  Unfortunately, the Mustangs coughed up the ball on the very next play.  Once again the defense was strong and Cobb punted.   On second down, Staley finally had a break through run by #21 for 80 yards and the touch down.  The Mustangs went to tie it up with a PAT kick, but a miscue had #6 grabbing the ball and looking to make his way into the end zone, but he was brought down shy of the goal line.  The Cobb Cyclones had the lead 14-12 with five minutes left.   The defense made short work of Cobb's offense holding them with no gain.  The Mustangs took over on downs.  The Mustang took the ball at their own thirty yard line, on first down #21 took the ball to the Cobb 40 yard line for a fresh set of downs.  The Staley crowd was on its feet and the roar was deafening.  The  Mustangs gained about five yards on first down , no gain on second down, then we got  backed up by a penalty with thirty seconds left.  Staley had already used up all their time outs.   

The Mustangs opted for a pass, the quarterback, #12, toss it out to #1 who caught it at the 20 and ran it down to the 10 yard line before being brought down as the clock buzzed for the end of game.   The Staley crowd could not believe it.  But wait... the refs called for 2 more seconds on the clock.   The Mustangs had one more play, one last hope.  They lined up to kick a field goal.  A clean snap, and hold, a kick, but a Cobb defender broke through the line and was able to block the ball as time expired.  The final score had Cobb 14 and Staley 12.   The drive, fight, and perseverance  these young men showed, left little doubt that they are winners, despite the score at the end of the game.  Way to fight Mustangs!!!

Here are some images of the game.