Sandies Lasso Mustangs, 45-22

Grapeland Moves to 2-0 in District

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

GRAPELAND – The Grapeland Sandies welcomed the Burkeville Mustangs to town on Friday, Oct. 4 for a District 12-2A DII matchup.

The Sandies came into the contest with a record 4-1 and were coming off of a 49-12 district win over the Evadale Rebels.

Meanwhile, the Mustangs had a mark of 0-4 and had been beat up last week by the Lovelady Lions, 59-22.

The game went as expected as the Sandies opened up a 32-0 lead in the first half and then throttled down as they coasted to the easy 45-22 win. Let’s just say, Houston County teams were not kind to Burkeville.

Grapeland opened the scoring early in the first quarter as quarterback BJ Lamb connected with Cooper Ward on a swing pass. Ward would not be denied as he weaved his way towards the end zone with some nifty open field running for a touchdown.

On the Mustangs’ ensuing possession, a Burkeville fumble was recovered by Grapeland’s Cooper Sheridan in the Mustangs’ end of the field. On the next play from scrimmage, Keizion Ashford took a handoff from Lamb on a jet sweep, made one man miss and scampered 24 yards into the end zone to make the score 12-0.

The next time Grapeland had the ball, sophomore running back Cadarian Wiley found a crease in the Burkeville defense and sprinted 48 yards to pay dirt. The extra point increased the Sandies’ lead to 19-0 and they weren’t even finished with the first quarter.

A 17-yard rushing TD from Lamb was followed by Wiley’s second six of the game and with just over seven minutes left in the half, the Sandies had opened up a 32-0 lead.

Burkeville finally managed to generate some offense as William Urrie bulled his way across the goal line from a yard out to put the first Mustang points on the board. Daniel Lowe converted the two point attempt to make the score 32-8.

The Sandies answered back, however, as Grapeland mounted a drive that ended when Deco Bryant connected with Austin Driskell for an 18-yard scoring strike to push the lead out to 38-8 before the end of the first half.

The third quarter saw the teams exchange possessions until Ward broke loose on a 56-yard touchdown gallop for the Sandies. The extra point made it 45-8 as the game moved into the fourth quarter.

With the majority of the Grapeland starters on the bench, the Mustangs were able to add a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late as the Sandies cruised to the 45-22 win.

The win moves Grapeland’s record to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in district play.  

This week, Grapeland will travel to Colmesneil (1-4, 0-1) as they take on the Bulldogs. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 pm.

Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].

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