The Huntingdon Mustang football program is no stranger to advancing to the quarterfinal round of the playoffs and with the Mustangs 49-22 win over Lewis County in the second round Friday in Hohenwald, they have reached the quarters for eight of the last ten football seasons.
The Mustangs also qualified for the playoffs for the past 20 football seasons.
The Mustangs’ speed proved too much for the Panthers as the Huntingdon offense piled up 534 yards of total offense. The Mustangs rushed 31 times for 439 yards, with senior Tyreke Hutch carrying eight times for 207 yards and three TDs—all in the first half. Braylin Dearmon complemented Hutch by amassing 145 yards on 14 carries and one score. Kenton Smith completed both of his passes for 95 yards and two touchdowns. Gavin Gray led a Mustang defense that held a high-scoring Lewis County team to 106 rushing yards and 149 passing yards on 11-of-25 attempts. Gray recorded 20 tackles and a sack, while Broox Bennett added 13 tackles.
The Mustangs got off to a slow start as Lewis County took a 3-0 lead with 1:39 left in the first quarter on a 33-yard field goal by Henry Sharp. The Mustangs answered with 7:58 left in the first half when Hutch broke free for an 18-yard run and Greyson Anderson added the point after to give Huntingdon a 7-3 lead.
Lewis County’s Drew Ray erased that lead just 14 seconds later by returning the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, and Sharp’s extra point put the Panthers up 10-7. The Mustang offense then woke up and exploded for 35 straight points.
Huntingdon started that scoring barrage three plays after Ray’s return. Smith threw a short pass in the flat to Bennett, who broke a tackle and sprinted 77 yards for the score. Anderson tacked on the PAT for a 14-10 lead.
After a Panther punt, the Mustangs scored in two plays as Hutch dashed 61 yards for a touchdown. Anderson’s point after made it 21-10 with 2:48 left in the half.
Hutch struck again after the Panthers went three-and-out, outrunning the defense for a 76-yard touchdown with 58 seconds left. Anderson converted the point after, and the Mustangs led 28-10 at halftime.
The Mustangs opened the third quarter with possession, and Dearmon needed just one play to essentially put the game on ice. He took the handoff, found a running lane, stiff-armed a defender, and sprinted 72 yards to paydirt for a commanding 35-10 lead.
An Owen King sack ended a Panther drive at the Mustang 48 and Dearmon picked up 30 yards to the Panther 18 and the next play, smith found King at the goal line for an 18-yard scoring toss and the lead was at 42-10 with the Anderson PAT.
Lewis County scored on its next possession with a 30-yard pass from Caleb Skelton to Kobe Feichtinger and went for two but failed, leaving the score at 42-16. The Panthers forced a Mustang punt and took over at the Mustang 38 and scored seven plays later on a Drew Ray 20-yard run. The two-point conversion again failed, and the score was left at 42-22.
The Mustangs recovered the onside kick and on the next play, K’Shun Carter found a hole and scooted to the end zone for a 50-yard touchdown run and Anderson added the final point of the night to make the final score 49-22.
The Mustangs face the second ranked team in the state this Friday in the quarterfinals as 12-0 East Robertson comes to Paul Ward Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
