Both Strayhorn and Coldwater had a little rust to shake off in a season-opening county rivalry game on Friday, Aug. 26.
Although neither team played particularly well, it was the Mustangs that were able to make the adjustments needed, overcoming a sloppy first half to pull away for the 27-0 road win.
“We always have things that we can do to get better,” Strayhorn coach Tim Melton said, following the win. “I think it was good for us to finally get to play and we were able to make some adjustments that helped us, especially in the second half. We still have some things to work on. But Rome wasn’t built in a day and I think these guys are going in the right direction.”
For at least a few minutes in the opening quarter, it seemed that Strayhorn was bound for a blowout win. Coldwater’s first play from scrimmage resulted in a fumble, recovered by Devin O’Neal and four plays later, the Mustangs found the end zone on a short touchdown carry by Hayden Alsup. The ensuing extra-point attempt was blocked, but the score put Strayhorn ahead, 6-0, less than three minutes into the contest.
Coldwater’s next possession would not end well either, as a big kickoff return for the Cougars was canceled out by negative yardage, stalling the drive near midfield. On fourth down, the ball sailed over the head of the Cougars’ punter and though recovered by Coldwater, the mishap allowed Strayhorn to take over on CHS’ 25-yard line.
Despite the short field for the Mustangs, Strayhorn failed to score and instead fumbled the ball, allowing the Cougars to recover on their own 13-yard line. This would begin a scoring drought for the Mustangs, one that lasted until the third quarter.
Meanwhile, Coldwater showed flashes of speed on the offensive side of the ball, but the Cougars were mostly unable to work the ball into the Mustangs’ end of the field. Penalties plagued both teams throughout the evening, mostly coming in the form of offsides or false starts. Those calls would halt several promising drives throughout the contest.
Strayhorn knocked on the door of the end zone yet again late in the first quarter, as the Mustangs made it all the way down to the three yard line. However, a delay of game penalty on third down and a defensive stop from the Cougars forced Strayhorn to attempt a 35-yard field goal, an attempt hampered by more pre-snap penalties from the Mustangs.
One of Coldwater’s best chances to score came early in the second quarter, as the Cougars made it down to the Mustangs’ 20-yard line. However, penalties once again stalled the momentum, eventually backing the Cougars up near midfield, resulting in another empty possession.
With a minute remaining in the first half, the Cougars tried to even the score on a series of deep passes to Cortravious and Martravious Hardin. Coldwater would make it inside the Mustangs’ red zone, but a rushing attempt from Damien Bradley was foiled by the Strayhorn defense as the first half came to a close, keeping the Mustangs ahead 6-0 at the break.
As the second half began, Strayhorn burned some clock to open the third quarter, rushing the ball down the Cougars’ throats and moving the ball down to the Coldwater 30-yard line. However, three straight false start penalties and a block in the back infraction halted the Mustangs’ momentum, seemingly shutting down another promising drive.
Strayhorn would receive a gift on the punt attempt though, as Coldwater fumbled the return, leading to a Mustangs’ recovery inside the 10-yard line. Three plays later, Jovan Balderrama broke the drought, taking a keeper into the end zone with 1:40 left in the third quarter. Balderrama followed that up with another keeper on a two-point conversion attempt, stretching the Mustangs’ lead to 14-0.
From there, Strayhorn put its foot on the gas and never looked back. After Coldwater was unable to come up with anything on its next possession, senior Joseph Dunson scored from seven yards out to provide some cushion for the Mustangs. The ensuing attempt failed, but Strayhorn gained the 20-0 lead with 8:23 left to go.
After Coldwater came up empty once more, Strayhorn took over with 6:59 remaining and began working on its final scoring drive of the evening. Just over a minute later, Alsup scored from 44 yards out down the opposing sideline and Joseph Rubio followed with a successful extra-point kick, sealing the Mustangs’ victory at 27-0.
“Coach (Chase) Sandridge has done a great job in the short time that he’s been at Coldwater,” Melton said. “He had some things drawn up that gave us some trouble and caused us to revert to an old mentality, even making us bicker with one another at times. (But) we made a couple adjustments with our line play and our backs followed by ripping off four or five yards a carry. That helped us cut the game in half.”
Despite the loss, there were some bright spots for Coldwater, especially on offense and on kick returns. One of those was the play of freshman Jeremy Bradley, who broke off a handful of big returns to put the Cougars in good field position.
“We only lost one turnover,” Sandridge said, regarding positive takeaways from the game. “I have 22 guys that want to come back to work on Monday and help us get better. They’re not hanging their heads. It’s on to the next one.”
Next up for Strayhorn is the home-opener against Myrtle on Friday, September 2 at 7:30. Meanwhile, Coldwater will make the most of its bye week, before traveling to Potts Camp on September 9.
