Mustangs Hope to Reverse History

By Lew
September 9, 2004

Mustangs hope to reverse history

By RON HOWELL/The Reporter Sports Editor
Sweetwater continued its two-decade long dominance of San Angelo Lake View in a 14-7 win over the Chiefs at Mustang Bowl this past Friday. While the teams had not played each other in five years, Sweetwater still had Lake View's number as it beat the Chiefs for the 15th consec-utive time dating back to 1983.

However, the Mustangs will be trying to reverse history at 7:30 p.m. this Fri-day, when they face Midland Greenwood on the Rangers' home field.

Greenwood holds a 3-2 edge in what has become a heated rivalry between the teams, who had never met before 2000, and has won the last three meetings, all by a single touchdown. The Rangers defeated Sweetwater twice in 2002, the last time in the state quarterfinals, and also won 36-29 this past year to spoil the Mustangs' homecoming.

It looked as if the teams might collide again in the playoffs in 2003, but Merkel spoiled that by knocking off Greenwood 26-22 in the bi-district round. The Ran-gers advanced all the way to the state finals after beating Sweetwater in 2002

While the teams have several new faces on their current rosters and no state rankings are on the line -- Greenwood was No. 4 entering last year's contest -- the rivalry has hardly cooled.

"We could both have 22 new faces, and it would still be a war," said Mustang head coach Kent Jackson. "We've had a lot of good history and good matchups. It will be no exception this Friday."

A defensive battle could be in store tomorrow, since neither Sweetwater or Greenwood has exactly lit up the scoreboard due in part to the competition.

The Mustangs (1-1) have scored a total of just 28 points in their two games, and Greenwood (0-1) fell 27-0 to No. 8-ranked Wylie in its season opener last week. But Jackson notes that the Rangers, who had to break in a new quarterback due to a preseason injury, trailed only 7-0 at halftime until Wylie's offense broke loose the final two quarters.

"They look just as good defensively as they were last year," Jackson said. "If not for their quarterback situation, they probably wouldn't be that far off from where they were last year. We're very impressed with what we've seen of their intensity."

Sweetwater's defense showed signs of approaching mid-season form in the win over Lake View. The Mustangs intercepted Chiefs QB Matt Phillips twice and recovered three fumbles while holding Lake View to 240 yards, including just 75 in the second half. On offense, Sweetwater failed to complete a pass but did have 283 yards rushing, with Kendal Carrillo scoring on a 77-yard run and Skye Green finding paydirt on a 3-yard sweep.

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