Mustangs race to SWYL victory
| Saturday, Oct 10 2009 12:09 AM
Last Updated Saturday, Oct 10 2009 12:09 AM
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Henry A. Barrios / The Californian Stockdale High's #21 Nic Shannon celebrates #20 Malik Henderson first quarter touchdown in their game against South High.
Henry A. Barrios / The Californian South High's #20 Odail Crumb is brought down by Stockdale's #28 Jeremy Bispo.
Henry A. Barrios / The Californian Stockdale's #24 Spenser Prince looks for running room as he is pursued by South's #35 Ren Carreon.
Stockdale coach Mike Snow said one of the Mustangs' primary goals Friday night was to send South High reeling early in their Southwest Yosemite League matchup at South.
The Rebels entered the game 4-0 -- the school's best start since the 1980s, South observers said -- but the Rebels were no match for Stockdale on this night.
Stockdale raced to a 21-0 first-quarter lead and pulled away after that in a 63-20 win that improved the Mustangs to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the SWYL. South is 4-1 and 0-1.
"We wanted to come in and start fast," Snow said. "We did not want them to build up confidence and get their crowd into it."
The Stockdale defense and special teams controlled the game. South had three interceptions, lost two fumbles and had a punt blocked.
"For us to have a chance we knew we could not turn the ball over," said South coach John Wren. "And we had to do a good job keeping our offense on the field which would limit their chances on offense. We didn't do either tonight."
Six different Stockdale players scored, with running backs Malik Henderson, Nic Shannon and Spenser Prince scoring two touchdowns apiece.
Shannon had 137 yards on six carries with TD runs of 15 and 65 yards; Henderson had 105 yards on six carries with TD runs of 15 and 71 yards; and Prince had 75 yards on 11 carries with TD runs of 10 and five yards.
"I'm not surprised," Shannon said of Stockdale's margin of victory. "We were prepared. We had great practices all week so we knew we would play great."
South had a brief moment of hope, but it quickly ended.
Quarterback Roger Hebert's 1-yard plunge got the Rebels on the scoreboard with 51 seconds left in the first half, making it 28-6.
Stockdale took over on its own 8-yard line with 49 seconds left. Prince ran for seven yards and quarterback Efren Venegas completed his only pass of the night for 20 yards to Henderson. The Mustangs were on the 35 with 10 seconds left and called a timeout.
Shannon ran straight up the middle, broke a tackle and had a wide open field in front of him. The 65-yard TD run on the final play of the first half made it 35-6.
Stockdale got the second-half kickoff and Henderson broke free for his 71-yard TD run on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter. That made it 42-6 and the rout was on.
South's Leandre West had two second-half touchdowns, a 99-yard kickoff return with 1:18 left in the third quarter and a 3-yard run with 52 seconds left in the game.
"We were concerned with West because he's shifty and quick," Snow said.
Both teams had a ragged start to the game. South received the opening kickoff and fumbled on its first play from scrimmage, with Stockdale recovering on the Rebels' 18.
But Stockdale gave the ball right back on its first play when Venegas' pass bounced off a receiver's hands and was intercepted by Richie Maestre.
Stockdale's defense held, and the Mustangs blocked South's first punt of the night, which went for three yards.
That gave Stockdale possession on the South 18, and Henderson scored on a 15-yard run moments later.
"You never want to start the game that way," Snow said. "You probably won't see us throw another pass on our first play again. Fortunately, we got the ball right back."
Except for West's kickoff return, Stockdale had a solid game from its special teams. The Mustangs also partially blocked an extra point attempt and nine of the 10 Stockdale kickoffs went into or over the end zone for touchbacks.
