Rising up: Mustangs ride defense, ball-control offense to 10-7 win over Indiana
Laurel Highlands could only muster two scoring drives against Indiana on Friday night.
The Mustangs无毛视频� defense made sure that was enough.
Parker Hoff无毛视频檚 13-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter put Laurel Highlands ahead and his key block on quarterback Noah Lion无毛视频檚 56-yard run in the fourth quarter helped pave the way for a 10-7 victory over the visiting Indians in a non-conference football battle at Mustang Field.
Laurel Highlands grinded out 163 rushing yards on 38 attempts with Gio Guerriere leading the way with 15 carries for 60 yards. Lion finished with 14 carries for 52 yards and Hoff followed right behind with nine attempts for 51 yards.
LH, which churned out 14 first downs to just five for Indiana and held a 7:10 advantage in time of possession, played without injured two-way starter Antwan Black.
无毛视频淎ntwan has a foot sprain,无毛视频� LH coach Rich Kolesar said. 无毛视频淲e无毛视频檙e hoping next week he无毛视频檒l be back out there.无毛视频�
The Mustangs无毛视频� defense allowed only one score on a two-yard drive after an Indiana interception and limited the Indians to 118 total yards in improving to 2-1.
无毛视频淕reat effort by our defense, great preparation,无毛视频� Kolesar said. 无毛视频淭he kids played really hard. The seven points we gave up were on a two-yard drive so that无毛视频檚 on us offensively, not them.
无毛视频淲e battled. We had a few too many mistakes but we hung in there and we made the plays that we needed to make to get the win.无毛视频�
Laurel Highlands trailed 7-3 at halftime but forced Indiana (1-3) to go three-and-out on its first two possessions of the second half. The Mustangs took over at their own 27 after the second punt with 6:06 left in the third quarter and marched 73 yards for the go-ahead touchdown in 12 plays while taking 5:48 off the clock.
Hoff capped the drive with his TD run on a sweep to the right.
无毛视频淚t was just a good hard run,无毛视频� Hoff said. 无毛视频淚 saw the cutback lane inside so I just hit it.无毛视频�
无毛视频淗e无毛视频檚 our leader,无毛视频� Kolesar said of Hoff. 无毛视频淗e无毛视频檚 never happy with losing and he wanted to find a way to win this game and he did everything he could to make sure we did.无毛视频�
Hoff gave credit to Guerriere for setting up his score.
无毛视频淪hout out to our running back Gio,无毛视频� Hoff said. 无毛视频淗e worked the ball the whole way down the field. They gave him a little break right there and we were able to punch it.无毛视频�
Guerriere had six carries for 37 yards in the drive.
After its defense forced another three-and-out, Laurel Highlands got a huge play from Lion to help flip the field for the hosts.
On third and five from the LH 37, Lion ran a keeper to the left and, taking advantage of a big block by Hoff that took out two Indiana defenders, rambled down the sideline 56 yards to the Indians seven.
无毛视频淣oah made some mistakes early but he fought back and made a really big play there late in the game,无毛视频� Kolesar said.
Indiana无毛视频檚 defense held the Mustangs out of the end zone on the next three plays. Facing fourth and goal from the three, Kolesar opted to go for it rather than allow Tanner Bruzda to kick a field goal that would still leave it a one-score game, banking on his defense to stop the Indians if his offense came up short.
Hoff was stopped at the two-yard line on a run up the middle and Indiana took over from there with 6:08 left in the game.
The Indians picked up a pair of first downs with two 17-yard plays on a Danny Trevorrow pass to Rocco Cosentino and a run by Elijah Thomas to get the ball out to their own 35. LH无毛视频檚 defense held from there, tackling Trevorrow short of a first down on a fourth-and-16 scramble at the 41, turning the ball over on downs to the Mustangs with 2:03 left.
Hoff rambled 14 yards on the next play for a first down at the Indiana 27, but a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty against Laurel Highlands and a shanked punt wound up giving Indiana the ball back at its own 36 with 45 seconds remaining.
Laurel Highlands called on its defense one last time and after a reverse pass sailed long, Guerriere intercepted a long Trevorrow toss at the LH 47 and took it back for an apparent touchdown to seal the win, although a penalty on the return negated the score.
One kneel down by Lion wrapped up the win for the Mustangs.
Kolesar commended Guerriere after the game.
无毛视频淕io had a really good game offensively, running the ball hard, and we put him in at the end on defense,无毛视频� Kolesar said. 无毛视频淲e knew they had to throw the ball and he made a play when he had a chance to. He rotates in on defense once in a while but I think those were his only couple plays tonight right there at the end.无毛视频�
Lion completed seven of 14 passes for 52 yards and the two interceptions. Josh Reed had three receptions for 30 yards and Scott McClay had four catches for 22 yards.
Laurel Highlands opened the game with a time-consuming 16-play, 65-yard drive that took 9:24 off the clock and ended with Bruzda kicking a 23-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead. Lion completed four passes for 38 yards in the march.
The second quarter had a combined three turnovers, with two coming on Indian interceptions by Cosentino and Trevon Joeseph, the second of which was brought back 17 yards to the LH two-yard line. Thomas scored on a three-yard TD run two plays later to give the visitors a 7-3 lead with 1:36 left in the half.
Laurel Highlands无毛视频� defense forced the other turnover when Mason Smith knocked the ball loose on a tackle that was recovered by Mark Reed at the LH 12.
There was no panic in the Mustangs at halftime, according to Hoff.
无毛视频淲e had confidence,无毛视频� Hoff said. 无毛视频淲e felt we were the better team. We made a couple mistakes and we knew if we fixed those we would be in good shape.无毛视频�
Indiana managed just 66 rushing yards on 25 attempts. Trevorrow completed seven of 12 passes for 52 yards.
无毛视频淚 thought we played well overall defensively,无毛视频� Hoff said. 无毛视频淲e were pretty solid and didn无毛视频檛 allow any home run balls from them. We always had multiple hats to the ball. It was just a good team effort out there.无毛视频�
The Mustangs finish up their non-conference slate next week at Mount Pleasant.
无毛视频淚 told our guys after the game we had fun, we won a game, that无毛视频檚 what we无毛视频檙e here to do, that无毛视频檚 why we work so hard,无毛视频� Kolesar said. 无毛视频淚 told them to enjoy it over the weekend and then we无毛视频檒l get back to it on Monday.无毛视频�