Quick take
ANGLETON — Magnolia West employed a simple strategy Friday night against Angleton — hand the ball to Terry Daniels and play smothering defense.
It couldn’t have worked any better for the Mustangs, who came into Wildcat Stadium and escaped with a 10-7 victory in a hard-hitting District 10-5A Division 1 matchup.
After battling to a 7-7 halftime tie, the only scoring in the final 24 minutes came on a 24-yard field goal by Brayden Smith with 9:03 showing in the third quarter.
Magnolia West senior defensive back Brock Jedziniak’s interception return inside the Angleton 20-yard line set up the game-winning score.
“My defensive staff had a great plan,” Magnolia West head coach Ben McGehee said. “Our defensive kids tackled well, and they had to because Angleton has great athletes over there. I thought we did a good job of tackling in the open field and really bottling up their speed.”
Angleton (5-4, 4-3) and Magnolia West (6-3, 5-2) played each other only one previous time, that coming last year when the Wildcats eked out a 22-21 victory.
Highlights
Magnolia West controlled the line of scrimmage for most of the first half but had nothing more than a 7-7 tie at halftime to show for it.
The Mustangs recorded six first downs before Angleton was able to secure its first.
Magnolia West grabbed a 7-0 lead on its second possession, moving 57 yards on nine plays. Senior running back Daniels capped the drive with a 2-yard run.
The big installment was a 31-yard completion from junior quarterback Bryson Broadway to senior wide receiver Brandon Taylor.
Angleton then held the ball for 13 plays on its third possession but came up empty-handed when sophomore linebacker Rylan Langley sacked quarterback Clinton Washington for a 9-yard loss on third down.
However, the Wildcats did reach the end zone one possession later, needing just two plays to cover 83 yards to tie the game at 7-7 with 4:33 left in the half.
Washington connected with junior wide receiver Nicholas Jackson for 12 yards on first down before senior running back Elijah Simmons exploded through the left side of the Magnolia West defense and outraced pursuit to complete a 71-yard TD run.
However, that would be the extent of Angleton’s scoring.
Mustangs sophomore linebacker Langley found himself in the Wildcats’ backfield all four quarters.
“We practiced hard, we knew what we could do and we did it,” Langley said. “I thought this was going to be a little higher scoring game, but I trusted in my team. We have a great coaching staff and we just had to eliminate little mistakes.”
What it means
Magnolia West’s victory gives it the No. 3 seed in District 10-5A Division I. Fulshear has already locked up the district title and appears headed for an unbeaten regular season while Magnolia has earned the No. 2 seed.
Angleton will be the fourth seed and will play Galveston Ball in the first round of the playoffs.
Magnolia West will play Wisdom, Sterling, Madison or Waltrip. All four teams are battling for seed Nos. 2, 3 and 4 from District 9-5A Division 1. Those won’t be determined until next week’s regular season finales.
Quotable
Angleton head coach Jason Brittain expected exactly the type of game which transpired, but his team just couldn’t find the end zone enough times.
“We knew it was going to be a defensive battle, and tonight their defense made one more play than us,” Brittain said. “Magnolia West did a good job. They were mixing up their fronts and their coverages. They’ve got a great defense, led by their linebacker (Sam Mattingly) that is going to Stanford.”
Game balls
Senior defensive back Brett Dalton stopped Angleton’s last gasp at a game-winning drive with an interception and Magnolia West was able to consume the final minutes of the fourth quarter. The entire Mustangs defense swarmed all over the field to keep Angleton’s explosiveness contained with the exception of one play.
Daniels’ bullish running helped keep the ball out of Angleton’s hands while Mustangs quarterback Broadway came up with a key 22-yard scramble for a first down to help preserve the win.
Up next
Angleton will play at Kempner in its regular season finale next Friday while Magnolia West will host Friendswood.
