The Staley Mustangs 7th Grade Football White Team played a tough game tonight against the Pioneer Panthers.  The teams were pretty evenly matched and battled it out all night long.  The Mustangs struck first, when #13 took the hand off from #4, ran straight up the middle, sidestepping and out running defenders for a 60 yard touchdown.  The PAT missed and the Mustangs led 6-0. 

The Panthers had a good run back on the kick off and were driving deep into Staley territory, but the Staley defense was strong , causing Pioneer to fumbled on a third down running play.  The Mustangs tried to generate some offense, but an incompletion,  a penalty, and a miscue in the backfield had  Staley punting from their own end zone. 

The Panthers got really good field position after the punt.  The Staley defense made Pioneer work for every yard.  It took the entire Panther offense pushing the ball handler into the end zone.   The Panthers had the lead 8-0 after a successful PAT.  

The Mustangs had two and half minutes before the break to try to score. Number 45 took the kick off, ran up the field and gave the Mustangs good field position, before being tackled.   A great run by #9 on first down, down to the 25 yard line, had the Mustang fans cheering loudly.   A few plays later, with the clock winding down,  the quarterback threw to the end zone.  The ball fell, through the hands of the Staley receiver, to the ground, in the end zone for an incompletion.   The Panthers had the led 8-6 going into half time. 

The Panthers got the ball at at the start of the second half.  They made steady work of marching down the field and eating up the time on the clock  Despite several attempts by the Mustang defense to stop Pioneer, they scored.  A missed PAT had the score at 14-6 with 20 seconds left in the third quarter.  

The Mustangs stalled out on the first drive after the Panther kick off.  The Staley defense held and the Mustangs got the ball back.  Number 4 and #8 had two great runs.  A late hit, out of bounds on #8 gave the Mustangs 15 more yards.   However, a Mustang fumble, crushed the hopes of a comeback.  The Panthers ran out the remaining thirty seconds, handing the Mustangs their first loss of the season.  

Despite the final score, the Mustangs played strong, never giving up.  Way to go Mustangs!!!

Here are some images of the game.