The Olton Mustangs’ varsity football team won their cross-county match-up over Sudan last Friday, 41-0, to celebrate Homecoming with a victory.
With the win, the Mustangs improve to 3-0, while the Hornets fall to 1-2 overall on the year.
After a punt by both teams on their opening possession, the Mustangs wasted no time getting going offensively, as Brady Azam dropped back and found Rylan Holmes for a five yard completion. Two plays later, Azam would find Holmes deep over the middle, who broke a tackle, taking it 60 yards to the house for the score with 4:22 to play in the opening frame. The PAT from Santi Jimenez was good, making he score, 7-0.
Sudan was unable to get anything going offensively, as they went three-and-out on their next possession, punting the ball away with 2:43 remaining in the first quarter.
After a return on the punt from Alex Green, Olton’s offense took over at the Sudan 39-yard line. Azam picked up a yard on first down on the quarterback keeper, but the drive would stall out, facing the Mustangs with a fourth and nine. They elected to go for it, as Azam dropped the ball off to Nathan Craig on a screen pass, who cut it up field for a first down, taking it down to the Sudan 22-yard line.
Callen Burns carried the ball up the middle on first down for seven yards, as Sudan took a time out with 1:55 to play in the quarter. Out of the break, Azam called his own number, taking it to his right for a 16-yard touchdown with 1:49 remaining in the first quarter. The PAT from Santi Jimenez was good, making the score, 14-0.
Sudan got the ball back after the kick-off at their own 41-yard line, after a solid return from Brian Delgado. Three consecutive carries took the game into quarter number two, as the Hornets were forced to punt the ball away on fourth down.
Olton took over at their own 33-yard line, as Azam hit Zayden Falcon with a pass to move the chains for the Mustangs, taking the ball up to their 49-yard line. On first down, Azam found Manny Carrasco with a pass for five yards, and he connected with Callen Burns on the next play, who took the ball down to the Sudan 40-yard line for a fresh set of downs for Olton.
Azam kept the drive going, as he connected with Carrasco for the second time on the drive, taking the ball down to the Sudan 10-yard line to set up first and goal. Two plays later, Azam would cap off the drive with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Carrasco with 10:12 left to play in the first half. The PAT was off the mark this time, leaving the score, 20-0.
Sudan took over at their own 30-yard line, after the kick from Olton rolled out of bounds, but the Hornet’s offensive struggles continued, as they were only able to pick up two yards on the drive. They lined up to punt, but a high snap was picked up by Haden Provence, but he was sacked by Rigo Galvan for a turnover on downs with 8:26 remaining in the half.
The Mustangs took a delay of game penalty to open the drive, and on first and long, Azam kept it himself on a run to the left, picking up seven yards. On second down, Azam hit Callen Burns with a pass to his left, as he cut it up field to set up first and goal from the seven-yard line. Three plays later, Azam called his own number scoring on a five-yard touchdown run to extend their lead to, 28-0, after the two-point conversion by Callen Burns with 7:19 to play in the half.
Sudan took over at their own 25-yard line, and on first down, Haden Provence found Dustin Gray on a pass to his right for 15 yards and a first down. However, the drive would stall, and the Hornets would be forced to punt the ball away with 5:33 remaining in the half.
Olton would drive it down inside the Sudan 15-yard line, but on fourth and four, a pass from Wyatt Francis was dropped by Carrasco for a turnover on downs with 2:54 remaining in the second quarter.
The score would stand with Olton in front, 28-0, going into the locker room at halftime.
Sudan got the ball to begin the second half, but they would go three-and-out on their opening possession of the second half, punting the ball away with 10:40 to play in the third quarter.
Olton took over at their own 39-yard line, but they would be faced with a fourth and eight, however, Azam took the snap on the fake punt and took it across midfield to the Sudan 26-yard line for a Mustang first down.
The drive would stall again, and the Mustangs would be faced with another fourth and long, but they would roll the dice and go for it, as Francis hit Carrasco with a pass to his left, as he took it into the endzone for the 26-yard score with 8:11 to play in the third quarter. The PAT from Santi Jimenez was good, making the score, 35-0.
Sudan would take over after the kick-off at their own 30-yard line, as they would march the ball down to the Olton eight yard line, before being faced with a fourth and seven. On fourth down Haden Provence dropped back and was sacked by Emitt Nelson for a turnover on downs with 2:11 to play in the quarter.
Olton took over after the turnover at their own 17yard line and just five plays into the drive, Callen Burns broke loose around the left side, spinning out of a tackle on the sideline on his way to a 68-yard touchdown run with 16 seconds to play in the third quarter. The PAT by Santi Jimenez was blocked by Sudan, leaving the score, 41-0.
Neither team would score in the final frame, as Olton went on to take the Homecoming victory, 41-0.
The Mustangs totaled 380 yards of offense, including 195 passing yards and 185 rushing yards.
Offensively, Azam was 14-21 for 169 yards and two scores, while also adding eight carries for 47 yards and two scores on the ground. Francis finished 4-7 passing for 26 yards and a touchdown, while adding five carries for 14 yards on the ground.
In the rushing attack, Callen Burns led the way with seven carries for 85 yards and a touchdown, while Tomsu chipped in six carries for 32 yards and Sanchez finished with five carries for seven yards.
In the receiving game, Carrasco led all receivers with seven catches for 87 yards and two scores, while Holmes contributed three catches for 65 yards and a touchdown, and Falcon added four catches for 21 yards. Craig finished with one catch for 16 yards and Callen Burns added one catch for six yards.
Defensively, Nelson led the team in tackles with 11, including two for loss and one sack, while Tomsu tallied 10 total tackles and Rigo Galvan and Cesar Ceballos each chipped in nine tackles. Craig added eight tackles, including one for loss, while Carrasco chipped in five tackles and Santi Jimenez added two tackles and an interception.
For Sudan, Haden Provence finished 4-14 for 37 yards, while adding 16 carries for 33 yards on the ground.
In the ground game, Martinez had 12 carries for 27 yards, while Avila chipped in two carries for seven yards and Brian Delgado added 10 carries for five yards.
In the receiving game, Ledbetter caught two passes for 20 yards, while Gray added one catch for 15 yards.
Defensively, Brian Delgado and Reno Smith each tallied 10 tackles, while Bryan Jasso chipped in eight tackles, including one for loss, and Aiden Flores finished with seven tackles. Luis Vargas finished with four tackles and one sack in the contest.