By Allen Hamrick

It was the Mustangs season opener at home this past Thursday night, and they were pitted against the Summersville Bears.  This would be a rematch of the two middle school titans; the last time they met was last year’s CWVAC championship game.  In that meeting, the Mustangs defeated the Bears on their own turf and owned the bragging rights. That was last season, on to the present.  This night the Bears brought in a team that looked big enough to be a high school team, and from appearances, they would give the Mustangs a run for their money.  It was not to be for the Bears as the CCMS Mustangs continued their dominating ground and pound style of football, taking up where they left off last year.  The Mustangs ground game, combined with superb blocking from the front line, took the game to the next level.  The Bears once again couldn’t overcome the push of the Mustangs.   The defense had a great game as well; they gave no quarter and asked for none in return.

The Mustangs are an all around football team that has the opportunity to keep the championship trophy at CCMS where it belongs. The Mustangs lost a lot of players to the high school, but they are no pushovers, as the Bears found out.  The Mustangs came out and dominated on offense, defense, running, passing, blocking, coaching, cheering and fans.  Ayden Brown was a definite standout on offense; he had eight carries for 146 yards, four catches for 86 yards and had three TDs.  Noah Collins had 12 carries for 115 yards and one TD run.  He also threw 10-16 for 181 yards and two TDs.  Josh Beard had two big catches for 95 yards, and Landon Elliot was the extra points go to guy with four catches and scoring eight points.  The defense was a well oiled machine and dug in like tanks stopping any offense the Bears could muster.  Except for a couple of gifts given late in the game, the defense held fast.  Standouts were Ayden Brown, Noah Collins and Landon Humphrey with eight tackles.  Evan Bass and Brayden Lane had seven tackles each.  The whole defense was in on most of the plays looking like a wave that covered the Bear offense.  Bottom line, the offensive line of the Mustangs pushed the defensive line of the Bears to their own end zone and opened holes like bulldozers for the runners to get through and score.  The defense built a impenetrable wall that the Bears simply couldn’t knock down.   It was a well executed game from the coaching staff, and the boys carried out the plan to a tee with a final score of 46-22.  This week they play Hamlin Middle School from Lincoln County at home with game time at 6:30.  Go Mustangs!