The litany of blue-blood opponents and state ranked opponents continued for the Wekiva Mustangs while facing the Jones Tigers on Friday, Oct. 17. The Tigers looked every bit the part, consistently turning Wekiva’s inexperience into points en route to a 56-0 victory.

“Another lesson to learn,” Wekiva coach Doug Gabriel said. “Hopefully, the players understand the opportunity to learn and will. Lake Howell is in the same position as us, starting over and the other opportunity now present.”

Wekiva will hit the road to face the Lake Howell Silver Hawks at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24. Wekiva defeated Lake Howell last season.

Jones entered the game against Wekiva averaging 389 total yards per game. During the first half against the Mustangs, the Tigers gained 242 yards out of 328 total, despite triggering a running clock with the big lead.

Jones took a 7-0 lead only 2:59 into the contest, marching 63 yards on seven plays. Daunte Wallace rushed the last two yards behind the center of the line, and the Tigers never looked back.

Jones averaged 12 yards per play across 26 offensive snaps. The Tigers came one short of 50-50 balance, with 14 pass plays and 12 rushing. Their average gain of 15 yards per pass completion eliminated the need of enforcing a physical will through the ground.

Chris Jones accounted for 62 of the Mustangs’ 131 total yards gained — more than double Wekiva’s total yardage of 59 in the previous game. The 131 total yards marked the team’s second-highest production of the season.

For the first time this year, Wekiva’s opponent began more possessions on its own side of the field than the Mustangs’ side. Jones began five of seven possessions in its own territory. The Mustangs also committed a season low of five penalties for 32 yards, marking another area of improvement.

Wekiva’s offense gave up two touchdowns on interception returns of 46 yards and 70 yards. Both passes were thrown into areas with no receivers. Nor did the quarterback see the defensive player or the lack of Mustangs in front of the end zone.

More than two-thirds of the 22 Wekiva players starting the first contest have missed significant time during contests due to injury.

The loss dropped Wekiva to 1-7, including 0-2 in district, while Jones improved to 6-2 on the season.