The Meridian Mustangs opened their season this Friday with a tough 33-13 loss at Mclean High School. The game had been scheduled for Thursday night, but heavy rains mixed with storms caused the game to be delayed to Friday at 3pm.
Despite the loss, one of the bright spots for the Mustangs was the evident improvement of the offensive line. They were able to hold their blocks just that little bit longer than the previous season which allowed for more running room and more time for the quarterback in the pocket. (The immediate area after they take the snap)
The importance of the offensive line cannot be overstated. If the offensive line does not block their man, then the running back cannot gain yardage. Additionally, if the offensive line does not block their man then the quarterback cannot make as good of a throw because the defense could sack the quarterback.
A plethora of missed tackles also hurt Meridian substantially. Early on in the game, a short comeback route (which is where the receiver goes out and cuts back sharply) that should have resulted in a short gain resulted in a touchdown because of a missed tackle by cornerback Deiosity Bantan.
In the first quarter, Meridian fought back, tying the game on a rushing touchdown to make the score 7-7. At this point, the wheels began to come off as Mclean scored on a long passing touchdown to put them up by 7 going into halftime.
Coming out of the half a simple rushing play that could have resulted in a tackle for loss (TFL) turned into a touchdown when two separate Mustangs missed potential TFL’s. Meridian managed to score again in the 3rd quarter to make the score 26-13. But yet another touchdown late in the third quarter caused the score to become 33-13 and sealed the win for McLean.
The 20 point loss was a definite improvement from last year’s embarrassment in which they lost by over 40 points. Next week the Mustangs will pay a visit to Dominion High School to try to get back on track.
