The Staley Mustangs 8th Grade Football White Team matched up against the Stafford Spartans on a beautiful fall evening.   These two teams were pretty evenly matched.  Staley took the opening kick off and marched down the field behind running backs #9 and #27.  A nice 20 yard toss from the quarterback #18 to #88, set up first and goal on the eight.  Three plays layer the Mustangs punched it in for the score.  The PAT was good and the Mustangs had the early lead 8-0.

Not to be out done, the Spartans scored a minute later on a break away 59 yard run.  Their PAT put two points on the board and we were all tied up.  After trading a set of downs.  The Mustangs had some shorts runs by the duo of #25 and 8, when finally #8 cut to the outside. to the sideline and out ran the defenders, for a 40 yard touchdown.  After a successful PAT kick, the Mustangs took a 16-8 lead with just under a minute left in the half. 

Coming back from half time the Spartans received the kick off and their offense was gaining some yardages, when their running back took the hand off, broke some  tackles and ran down the field for a 50 yard touchdown.  Another successful PAT had the Mustangs and the Spartans tied at 16 all. 

The Spartans' defense was strong on the next series, and the Mustangs were facing a fourth and long play.  The quarterback tossed it ten yards to #88 who ran for another 10 yards, giving the Mustangs new life.  The Mustang backs #8 and #25 brought us down inside the ten yard line, and #8 trotted in for the score.  A missed PAT gave the Mustangs a 6 point lead: 22-16.

The next two series showed off how strong both defenses were.  The Mustangs dropped the Spartans for losses in their three and out.  The Spartans then contained the Mustangs for their three and out. The hit of the night came on the Spartans' punt return.  The receiver fielded the ball and headed to the near sideline, when Staley's #40 delivered a walloping blow that sent the receiver flying out of bounds.  A collected "OHHHH", could be heard from the stands.  That pretty much deflated the Spartans, and the Staley defense knocked them back for consecutive losses.  The Mustangs got the ball back one last time.  The Mustang offense took the ball about 20 yards downfield, before just running out the clock by taking a knee.  Final score Mustangs 22-Spartans 16. 

The Mustang running game behind backs, #8, #9, and #25, proved to be successful.  That along with a couple of passes, and strong defense was the key to this victory.  The  Mustangs played physical on both sides of the ball, and improved their record to 2-0.  Great job Mustangs!!! 

Here are some images of the game: