On Sept.12, our 8th Grade Mustang football teams played our first football game against CD Fulkes at home. Both teams came back one year older, one year stronger, and one year more experienced and confident on the football field. And after a strong three-week preseason training camp, the Red and Blue were eager kick off their final Middle School football season with a win against a team that they beat last year. And on new coach Jared Lugo’s debut as part of the coaching team, it was sure to be an exciting game for all involved.

The Blue team were upset in the first game, only scoring one touchdown in a disappointing 6-12 4th quarter loss. Running Back Eric Moon scored on the 2nd offensive play of the game, and after that, we never scored again, as the larger and heavier CD Fulkes team had the size to keep our run defense stifled for much of the game, and wrecked havoc on our O-Line that had trouble trying to block the larger players. The Lizards scored at the end of the 3rd quarter to tie the game up at 6-all, and scored once again in the 4th to take a shock lead that could not be relinquished.

“We played good in the first half, but we lost concentration in the end and we payed for it,”  James Thompson (8) said.

“Our run game was strong early, but we fumbled the ball way to many times. If we didn’t fumble so much, maybe we would win this game, but we did, so it’s something that we need to improve on as a team” Sean Lin (8) said.

Meanwhile, the Red team eked out an 8-6 victory. Mustangs running back/wide receiver Jaiden Webber scored the first touchdown of the game, an screen pass-turned 12 yard touchdown after juking and shifting his way through the entire Lizards defense. And after converting the 2-point conversion through a 2 yard pass from QB Karsten Bresser to wide receiver Matthew Gula, the Mustangs held on to their lead, even stopping a crucial 2-point conversion after a touchdown by CD Fulkes, in order to secure what will hopefully be the first of many wins this season.

“The offensive line for CD was super big, like 300 pounds each, so it was hard to get to the running back and quarterback, but we battled hard and grinded it out for the win,” Varun Ramesh (8) said.

“CD Fulkes gave us a challenge because of their size, but in the end we wanted it more, so we took the dub. It felt good in the end,” Vinay Majjiga said.

This year, football is out for revenge. After having performed poorly last year, we came back this year ready to give it all in order to be the best team in district. And after a promising 1st game, a special season could really be in the making.