Our CMW football Mustangs have not been known for winning playoff games in the past couple decades. The last playoff win was in 1996, that was almost 28 years ago. This year, we have the chance to make history. This year could be the year C.Milton Wright wins a playoff game.
In the playoffs, every team makes the playoffs, so we automatically have a spot in the playoffs. But this year, we have a truly special team that could lead this school to a promising run and future. This year started out rough, going 0-3. Everyone in the county doubted us, saying we would go 0-9 and first round exits. Now at the end of the year we have a 5-4 record, ready to go play our playoff opponent.
Who is our opponent in this round of playoffs? The team we play is a well-built program, historically making playoffs often when you had to fight for spot. That team is Hereford. Although they are not a flashy team, they play a very sound game of football and will test even the best of teams, making those teams wonder if they really want to finish the game. They have very run heavy offense, winning games by beating up the other teams and gassing them by the fourth quarter. They run what is called a wing offense. This offense has been run since the 1950’s. They use a whole lot of running up the middle or a little off to the side. They have a player called the wing player that goes where the running back is supposed to try to block players that could get to the running back before they get blocked.
The game is over, and it was not the ending that we hoped for. We started off taking a massive lead, being up almost 3 scores in the first half. We felt good, felt like we had won. That is where it went wrong. Our offense stalled on multiple drives; our defense got cooked deep on multiple mistakes that led to Hereford being up by 1 point. Our offense had almost 2 minutes to drive down field and score. We drove down field and put us around the 20-30 yard line. We decided to go for a field goal to win the game. The feeling was tense, and the stadium was the loudest it had been all game. The ball gets snapped, the ball goes up, and flies wide left.
We had some team stat leaders that should be mentioned. Our rushing leader was Jaxon Simms with 96.2 per game. Receiving yards leader is Bubba Tolson with 59 yards per game. Our leading touchdown scorer is Jaxon Simms again with 8 total touchdowns. Jaxon Simms makes his third appearance on the board with 8 tackles a game. The sack leader is Alex Curry with 9 total sacks. Cameron Wheeler is tied with Harlem Palmer and Mason Shoenfelt with 1 interception. The passing touchdown leader is obviously Kyle Ashman with 5 touchdown passes. Bubba Tolson again on the board with 2 touchdown catches.
The ending to the game was a heart breaking one, but it proves this team has something special and will be back next year, remembering this playoff loss. There are some truly special players on this team and some guys who can get the job done next year.
