The Staley Mustangs 7th Grade Football Blue Team ended their season on a high note after easily defeating the Scoggins Seahawks 28-6.   The Mustangs scored on their first possession behind the running backs #21 and #32.  Staley's #21 took it the final twenty yards for the first score. A successful PAT gave the Mustangs an 8-0 lead.   The Mustangs kicked off to the Seahawks, who could not make any head way through the stellar Mustang defense.  The Mustangs quickly took over after the Seahawks went three and out.  After making a first down with the running game, the Mustangs decided to throw the ball down the field.  Quarterback #2 threw the ball to a wide open #20, who caught the ball and ran it 50 yards for the touchdown. Staley's #17 kicked the ball through the uprights to give the Mustangs a 16-0 lead. The Seahawks had a good run back on the kick off to give them good starting field position on the next series.  The Seahawks handed the ball off to their big running back, who plowed his way through the Staley offense.  The Seahawks repeated that play until they made it into the end zone.  The Mustangs stopped the PAT, putting the score at Mustangs  16, Scoggins 6 with two and a half minutes left in the half.  The Mustangs were moving the ball down the field, and had twenty five second left to score, but a couple of incomplete passes had the clock winding down to zero before the could make any more progress.  The score remained 16-6 at the half time break.   

The Mustangs got possession in the second half when #55 got the onside kick at midfield.  The Mustangs #21 ran it down the field 30 yards  to the twenty yard line. The Mustangs made it down to the fifteen yard line when they turned the ball over on a mishandled exchange in the backfield.  The Seahawks recovered. The Seahawks were making some progress up the field with the big running back leading the way, but the Mustang defense tighten up and stopped the Seahawks and forced a punt.  The Mustangs #21 returned the punt for a touch down.  The Mustang took the lead 22-6 after a missed PAT.  The Mustang defense shut down the Seahawks on the ground and in the air to get the ball back.  The Mustang running game went to work.  Mustangs running backs #20, #8 and #32 had them moving the ball into the end zone.  A touchdown by #32 was called back by a holding penalty, but the Mustangs repeated the play for a Staley touchdown.  The Mustangs' PAT kick fell short of the uprights, but the Mustangs had a great lead 28-6 with 2:18 left in the game. The Staley defense did their job, tackling the running back, causing the fumble and recovering the ball. The Mustangs lined up in the victory formation and kneed the ball to run out the clock and take home a big 28-6 win. 

While the 7th Grade Blue team did not finish with a record they hoped for, there is no shortage of talent or desire in the group of kids.  Each and every game the coaches had the players ready and fighting until the very end.  A few plays made the differences in the win and loss column, but the Staley boys got better and better as the season went on, always gave it their all and played with great Mustang spirit and sportsmanship, they build their character and learned the values of hard work and persistence.  As always, it is my privilege and pleasure to be down on the sidelines not only capturing the action, but watching and cheering on these upstanding Staley athletes.  Congratulations on a great season and I can not wait until next year!

Here are some images of the game.