BEAUMONT — Call it a sweep.

The West Orange-Stark Mustangs made it three straight wins against District 20-4A non-district opponents Friday night, downing the Beaumont Central Jaguars 14-0 in a physical affair at the Carroll Thomas Center.

Both defenses played outstanding but it was the Mustang “Chain Gang” defense that had the final say as WO-S recorded its 82nd shutout in the school’s history.

“We got a big win, and we’re leaving here with a few bumps and bruises, that’s for sure,” said Mustang coach Cornel Thompson. “The game was sloppy at times but both defenses had something to do with that. We’ve got three quality wins in a row now we’ve got to go home and face another good squad in the form of the Jasper Bulldogs. It doesn’t get any easier.”

The Mustangs (3-0) limited the Jaguars to just 175 total yards. Central’s defense was up to the challenge as well, holding the Mustang offense to just 193 yards.

WO-S found some success with their running game in the second half to help turn the tide. The Mustangs had just 54 yards at the half but grinded it out on the ground in the second half to total 139 yards of offense.

WO-S did its best to contain Central quarterback Robert Mitchell. Mitchell scrambled around enough to complete 16-of-32 passes for 164 yards.

WO-S stifled the Jaguars on the ground, limiting them to just 11 yards on 28 carries.

“The Mitchell kid is something else,” said Thompson. “Just when you think we had him bottled up, he’d escape and throw a dart to one of those fast receivers. We’re fortunate that we beat a pretty good football team tonight. The Jaguars (0-3) are going to cause some problems in District 20-4A.”

The Mustangs received big efforts from linebackers Daniel Woodson and Joe Lynch and defensive linemen Jhayllien Monette, Octavious Crosson and Teddy Stone.

“Our defense hunkered down and got after it,” said Thompson. “We made a few changes up front that helped us. We moved Monette from noseguard to tackle and he was superb. Teddy Stone was excellent for us moving in there at the nose and we’re really proud of Crosson’s effort tonight.”

The Mustangs set the tone in the third quarter, when they ate up half the clock in the period while scoring on a 12-play, 70-yard drive.

Running back Abear Simien capped it off with a 7-yard dart around the left side for the touchdown. Kicker Jerquis Beasley nailed the extra-point to make it 14-0 with 6:14 left in the third. Simien led the Mustang ground game with 60 yards on 11 carries.

Mustang quarterback Jimmy Salter hit receiver J’Marcus Rhodes with a 20-yard dart over the middle that set the Mustangs up at the Jaguar 37. Simien added 27 yards on five totes on the march.

The Mustangs certainly hurt themselves with turnovers as Central gobbled up four WO-S turnovers. WO-S got thwarted with 0:54  left in the game when Salter headed towards the goal line on what would have been a 3-yard keeper for a score but he got stripped right at the goal line and the Jaguars took over.

“Those turnovers were tough, that’s for sure,” said Thompson. “Give the Central kids some credit, they did great stripping the ball there a few times. We know we have something to work on next week. We’ve got to protect it better.”

Central held WO-S’ passing game down. Salter did complete 7-of-13 passes for 25 yards.

Without question, the first half was a defensive struggle that also saw each team turn the ball over twice.

The Mustangs took advantage of a Jaguar turnover to score the half’s only points.

With 5:02 remaining in the first quarter, Jaguar tailback Kamon Darby coughed the ball up to Mustang defensive end Colin Janice at the Central 33.

Salter carried two straight times for 12 yards that ended up giving the Mustangs a first down at the 18.

WO-S fooled Central with a wide receiver end-around as Maurice Morris came from the left side, took a hand-off from Salter, and bolted 16 yards down to the 2. Salter then capped the five-play, 33-yard drive with a 2-yard quarterback sneak off left tackle.

Beasley nailed the extra-point to give the Mustangs the 7-0 edge with 3:15 left in the half.

On the first series of the game, Central had a bad snap that sailed all the way back to their own 2 where Mitchell fell on it.

WO-S’ superb return man Quinton Tezeno snagged a punt return at the Jaguar 37 and returned it all the way to the 11 but fumbled the ball back over to the Jaguars.

Central moved from its own 41 all the way to the Mustang 8 late in the first period with the big play coming on a Mitchell 31-yard strike to receiver Nicalus Rhone. However, the Mustangs got out of a jam when safety Travon Blanchard picked off Mitchell at the Mustang 2 on second-and-goal from the 8.

Simien coughed up the ball to Central defensive back Garrison Mitchell at the Mustang 17 on the next series. The WO-S defense stood tall again and the Mustangs’ special teams came through with a big play, blocking Rhone’s 37-yard field goal attempt with 0:55 left in the first period.

Central outgained the Mustangs 99-54 in the first half.

The Mustangs gained 56 yards on the ground on 12 carries but had minus 2 passing yards. Mitchell completed 7-of-14 passes for 76 yards. The Jaguars just managed 23 yards on 20 totes on the ground.

The Mustangs have yet another tough foe next week when the Jasper Bulldogs visit Hooks Stadium.









WO-S 14

Central 0



Cen       0    0    0    0 —  0

WO-S    0    7    7    0 — 14



Scoring summary

WO-S: Jimmy Salter 2 run. Jerquis Beasley kick.

WO-S: Abear Simien 7 run. Beasley kick.



———

                          Cen        WO-S

First downs        13             11

Rushes-yards   28-11      38-168

Passing             164            25

Comp-Att-Int    16-32-1   7-13-0

Fumbles-Lost     5-1          5-4

Penalties-yards  6-50        7-61



INDIVIDUAL STATS

Rushing: Central, Robert Mitchell 15-32, Trent Samuels 1-2, Kamon Darby 3-18, Damon Thomas, 6-(-10), Exavier Jones 1-(-3), Michael Jacquet 1-(-6), Team 1-(-22); WO-S, Jimmy Salter 9-20, Maurice Morris 4-28, Quinton Tezeno 3-24, Abear Simien 11-60 John Scott 6-21, Ar’Tevin McDonald 5-15.

Passing: Central, Robert Mitchell 16-32-1 164; WO-S, Jimmy Salter 7-13-0 25.

Receiving: Central, Landen Malbrough 6-58, Nicalus Rhone 3-44, Garrison Mitchell 6-56, Ian Bramble 1-6; WO-S, J’Marcus Rhodes 1-20,  Dre Spencer 1-6, John Scott 1-9, Tremaine Anderson 3-(-6), Ar’Tevin McDonald 1-(-1).