In back to back games we have been victimized, against DeSales it was a Pick 6 pass interception, and then again tonight, a return of the opening kick-off, which have set the tone, leading to early game deficits, which have proved impossible to overcome.  With the bye week and Holy Cross seemingly struggling, we had hoped for better against the Indians at TMU, as we began district seeding play.  The kickoff return was 92 yards by Xavier Thornberry.

The Indians scored on their first three offensive possessions – the Kick-Off return for a touchdown, a 66 yard drive and then they capitalized on a Landon Spaulding interception that occurred late in the first period, and finished it off early in the second, both run in by Quarterback, Brian Ferguson. 

In the second period at the 7 minute mark, we marched the football from the Brossart 33 yard line to the Holy Cross 26, where we attempted to get on the board with a Ryan Eldridge 39-yard field goal.  However, with Murphy’s Law in full effect, Ryan missed the attempt.  We then sat the Tribe down on downs, followed by a punt, but were unable to capitalize.  With merely 21 ticks remaining in the half an Indian punt ricocheted off of our returner and was recovered by the Indians at the Brossart 2 yard line, resulting in our trailing 28-0 at halftime – Not at all what we had hoped for.   At that point, this Mustang team which had it all together in the pre, and early season, seemed to have forgotten where we put it.

To their credit, these Mustangs refused to look at the scoreboard as we received the kick-off to start the second half, and marched the piggy 65 yards, scoring on a 13 yard Landon Spaulding keeper, giving us six points on the board, following the missed PAT attempt.  Again, however, before we could establish any meaningful momentum, the Indians scored on a 51 pass play from Quarterback Brian Ferguson to 6’5” Max Hunt, which quickly negated the Mustang score, as the Tribe extended their lead to 35-6 with 12 minutes remaining in the contest. 

At the onset of the fourth quarter, we scored once again, this time a Landon Spaulding one-yard plunge into the endzone, and as an encore, he completed the two-point conversion, making it 35-14.  Ben D’Alessandro then executed a perfect onside kick allowing the Mustangs to recover and maintain possession.  With the recovery we took possession at the Indians 34 yard line, but turned it over on an interception laying our late-game mini-rally to rest.  The Indians tacked on one more score as Dustin Wilson crossed the goal line from 9 yards out with 4:39 remaining in the game, for what would be the final score of 41-14 when the PAT attempt went awry.  

On th night Spaulding ran the ball 20 times for 54 yards and a pair of touchdowns.  Through the air he was 12 of 23 for 80 yards and was picked off twice.  Bentley McKinzie picked up 56 yards on 11 carries, and Tommy Busby gained 59 yards on 10 carries.  Brady Boruske, who is obviously not 100%, managed 3 catches for 22 yards.  Quinten Tischner hauled in 3 aerials for 16 yards, and Austin Johnson caught 5 passes thrown his way, for 36 yards. 

Adam Noe and Patrick Blair on the BMustangs broadcast were quick to credit the efforts of Austin Johnson, who was coming off of an injury, and the efforts of Freshman Tommy Busby, who had our night’s longest run of 21 yards.  They also complimented Ben D’Alessandro for succeeding on a pair of onside kicks, which could come in handy down the stretch.  We will also hope for a speedy recovery of Quinten Tischner and Brady Boruske who sat out much of the second half with injuries.

District seeding play continues next Friday night at the friendly confines, when Ludlow, who is coming off of a bye week, invades the MAC.  They will bring a 5-2 record to Alexandria, having defeated Newport soundly early in the season, but lost to Walton-Verona 33-0.  Go Figure!  Game time will be 7pm.  Come out and support these guys.  A win assures us a home game in the playoffs.  Newport fell to NCC 17-6 on the hill after leading the Breds 6-0 at intermission.  Newport, NCC, and Dayton, who improved to 7-0 with a lopsided win over Bellevue, are all formidable on the other side of our bracket.