By Tom Waddill
MADISONVILLE — The Madisonville Mustangs set the record straight Friday. The new champs of District 19-3A are much more than a one-man show.
In a district-clinching 35-12 victory over a scrappy Mexia squad, Madisonville got 204 yards and two touchdowns from its star running back Chris Whaley. But the Mustangs also got three touchdown passes from quarterback Kyle Morgan, receptions by six different receivers and two terrific red-zone stands from their defense.
The Mustangs (5-0 in 19-3A, 9-1 overall) gave a complete performance in a Senior Night game that was not decided until midway through the final period.
“I’m just happy for these seniors,” Mustangs coach Greg Morgan said while watching the players’ prolonged celebration on the field. “They worked really hard to get this.
“Mexia is by far the best team we’ve played in this district. Hats off to the Blackcats, they gave us a fight. I’m really proud of the way our guys came out in the second half and kind of took control of the game.”
Leading 14-6 at intermission, the Mustangs came out firing in the second half. After senior Chris Young set Madisonville up nicely with a long kickoff return, Kyle Morgan hit Young with a 33-yard pass on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter. Three plays later, Morgan found Randy Lewis with a 3-yard touchdown pass.
Senior Polo Aldava booted the point-after kick to put the Mustangs on top 21-6.
Mexia, which mounted an 18-play, 89-yard touchdown drive in the first half, answered the Mustangs’ third-quarter score with one of its own. Two and a half minutes after Lewis caught his TD pass, Ryan Miller snagged a 3-yard pass from Blackcats quarterback Trae Davis to make it 21-12.
The Mustangs put the game on ice with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
First, sophomore Brock Taylor ran under a 33-yard TD pass from Kyle Morgan with 9:05 left in the game. Then after the Madisonville defense held Mexia without a first down, Whaley took a toss on a sweep to the left. The 6-foot-3, 228-pound tailback hit the sideline before any of the Blackcat defenders and the race was on — and over.
Whaley also scored the Mustangs’ first touchdown on a 76-yard run. He added another run of 46 yards in the first half.
“This was not our best game. We could have done a whole lot better,” said Whaley, who averaged 12.75 yards every time he touched the ball Friday. “We started off with a lot of busted plays, but we finished strong in the end.”
Still dripping wet from an ice water bath courtesy of his seniors, coach Morgan pointed to a pair of impressive defensive stands in the first quarter as critical to the Mustangs’ victory.
Mexia took the game’s opening kickoff and marched down to the Mustangs’ 8-yard line. On fourth-and-goal from the 10, Madisonville senior Jacorey Gilbert stepped in front of a Mexia pass and picked it off in the end zone.
Then, after Kyle Morgan lost a fumble when he was sacked, the Blackcats had another golden opportunity to score first. This time Madisonville senior John Guys intercepted Davis’ pass at the 4-yard line.
“Those two stops were game-changers,” coach Morgan said. “Even though they happened early in the game, if we would have fallen behind 14-0, it would have been a struggle.”
Four plays after Guys’ pick, Whaley busted loose from 76 yards out and the Mustangs were on the way to their first district title since 2001.
After Mexia capped its 9-minute touchdown drive, Madisonville romped 72 yards in five plays, scoring again on a pass from Morgan to senior J.D. Standley with 37 seconds left in the first half.
“This is exciting, but we’re not finished yet,” Kyle Morgan said, already looking forward to the bi-district playoff game with Crockett next Friday in Corsicana. “We’ve got a lot of preparation to do for next week.”
The Mustangs, which beat Crockett 30-17 back in September, will meet the Bulldogs again next week with a lot more at stake. Crockett thrashed Rusk 61-0 on Friday to earn a spot in the Division II bracket of the Class 3A playoffs and set up the rematch with the Mustangs.
“I’ve never had to do that in all my years of coaching, play a team twice in one season,” coach Morgan said. “I’ve heard all kinds of horror stories about it.”
If the Mustangs continue getting the same kind of across-the-board production they got Friday in their eighth straight win, Chris Whaley said they’ll be just fine.
“We can be the best team there is,” said Whaley. “We’ve just got to stick together.”
