Thanks to a dominant second half, highlighted by an effective running game and a stingy defense, the C. Milton Wright Mustangs took care of the rival Bel Air Bobcats, 36-23, in front of a standing-room only crowd on their home field Friday night.
The Mustangs (3-1, 2-1 in UCBAC) outscored the Bobcats (2-2, 1-1 UCBAC) 16-3 after halftime, as the combination of running backs Kris Moreno and Lance Lehmann teamed up with senior quarterback Hunter Wright to consistently find running lanes that moved the chains. That consistent offense, in turn kept the defense fresh to smother the potent Bel Air offense — which averaged 29.6 points per game entering play and 44.5 over their last two games.
“The line worked their butt off, I worked my butt off, everyone worked their butt off,” Moreno said. “It was a team win.”
Prior to intermission, this game was more contentious, with the two teams exchanging the lead three times. After CMW missed a field goal attempt following an impressive opening drive, the Bobcats coughed the ball up two plays later to hand possession back to the Mustangs in the red zone.
On the ensuing play, Wright found senior wide receiver Anthony Riportella over the middle of the field for a touchdown to give the Mustangs a 7-0 lead.
Seventeen seconds later, Bel Air answered back with a long touchdown run from senior tailback Jaylen Reaves to square the score. Later in the first — following a turnover on downs by the Bobcats — the Mustangs once again turned to the ground game to gobble up yardage and also mixed in a completion to senior receiver Dominick Jankovic on an inside slant. Two plays after that connection, Wright snuck in himself to put his team back up 13-7.
The Bobcats took over in the second quarter with a pair of touchdowns: First, on Reaves’ second rushing touchdown of the game at the 10:15 mark and then on a Tristan Smith punt return where he made a few Mustangs miss and bounced out to the left side before turning on the afterburners.
The 20-13 Bel Air lead didn’t last long, as junior Tre’von Jones capped off a run-heavy Mustangs drive with a six-yard run to even things at 20.
After halftime, however, things changed.
“We did a great job of game planning this year for this game,” C. Milton Wright head coach Jim French said. “[Bel Air], they have a phenomenal offense, but we were able to put something together on the defensive side of the ball tonight that we thought would work and it did.”
The Bobcats did take advantage of a Jones muffed punt in the third quarter with a field goal to take a 23-20 lead, but after that it was all C. Milton Wright. On the kickoff following the field goal, senior Brian Steimke found a crease and returned it roughly 65 yards for the final lead change of the night.
Bel Air had chances to get back in the game late. Even after Moreno’s touchdown run to increase the Mustangs’ lead to 34-23 with less than seven minutes to go, Bel Air went to the passing game to attempt a rally.
Bobcats’ junior quarterback Brendan Purtell hooked up with senior receiver Brock Ketcham over the middle for a first-down completion to jumpstart the offense, but they couldn’t build off of it. Purtell missed an open receiver in the end zone by a few millimeters and his pass on fourth down went in and out of the hands of Ketcham, forcing a turnover on downs.
All the Mustangs needed to do after that was run out the clock to secure their important win over the Bobcats.