By Marshall Tempest
Reporter
The Wekiva Mustangs fell 16-7 to the Lyman Greyhounds in their annual spring game last week, providing the first look at how the teams are preparing for the fall season.
Wekiva took the lead early and held onto it for most of the game in this low-scoring matchup. Despite the Mustangs’ early lead and strong defense, the Greyhounds were able to capitalize on Wekiva’s many mistakes and penalties.
Wekiva head coach Doug Gabriel said his program is in the middle of rebuilding.
“We are playing with a JV team right now,” Gabriel said. “All of our players have graduated, so we’re very young. I was happy with the performance, but we have a lot to learn because they still don’t know the plays. They are not used to adversity either—most of them are ninth graders. But the good thing about them is they are all very coachable.”
In the first quarter both teams struggled to find their footing on offense after penalties stalled drives. False starts, holding penalties, dropped passes and an early interception halted Wekiva’s offense in the first quarter, while the defense held Lyman with ease.
In the second quarter, Wekiva got its first and only points of the night on a passing touchdown. With a 45-yard drive, Wekiva got into the endzone with a bubble screen, taking a 7-0 lead with 10:00 left in the second quarter after a successful extra point.
Near the end of the second quarter, the Greyhound offense began to build some momentum and pushed into Wekiva’s red zone. But the Mustang defense stonewalled the Lyman offense on the goal line, forcing a fourth down. The Greyhounds decided to go for a field goal and were successful, cutting their deficit to 7-3 with 3:04 left in the first half.
The rest of the first half was quiet as both teams went into the locker room to discuss adjustments—which proved quite successful for the Greyhounds.
At the start of the third quarter, Wekiva lost a player to unsportsmanlike conduct. He was not ejected, but he could not return to the field.
Gabriel said the strongest part of the team is the defensive line and the player they lost was a big part of it. The Mustangs had been getting great pressure in the pocket and were shutting down the run effectively, but without one of their best players, their defensive consistency began to slip.
By the end of the quarter, Lyman was once again knocking on Wekiva’s door in the red zone. The Wekiva defense managed to force a fourth down, but the Greyhounds went for it and completed a touchdown pass to take a 10-7 lead with 10:48 remaining in the fourth quarter.
It was a defensive battle in the fourth quarter as each team gave up very little yardage and exchanged turnovers. The teams committed three turnovers in just over six minutes and also combined for three punts.
The Greyhounds had the ball at their 45-yard line with six minutes to go when the offense began marching down the field. A 27-yard run brought Lyman into Wekiva’s red zone with just 3:13 left in the game. The Greyhounds were able to reach the end zone once again, this time on the ground, to stretch their lead to 16-7 as the game ended.
Wekiva’s biggest problem was its own mistakes, including penalties, dropped passes and missed assignments.
Gabriel said he and the team took a lot away from the loss. He specifically cited the attitude of his players and said he knows now that they can be better than they have been in the past, because this group of guys wants to listen, learn and grow.
“I love the fact that we’re not leaving with headaches,” Gabriel said. “Kids want to be coached, so it isn’t like they are trying not to be coached. And I love that part. Compared to last year, we had a lot of talent, but kids were playing more for themselves. We shot ourselves in the foot multiple times tonight with mistakes, but we can build on this. I’m not worried.”
Gabriel also emphasized that the team was missing a lot of starters due to injuries, so the true team has not even been seen at game speed yet. Most of those who were injured were receivers, so dropped balls should be less of an issue.
Gabriel said the running back and even the quarterback who appeared in the spring game might not be starting come fall. He liked their play on the field, but they are JV kids that need game experience.
Gabriel says the focus now is taking everything they saw and did in the spring game learning from it and applying it at practice. It’s going to be a long journey, but Gabriel believes he and his staff are up to the challenge of turning his young team into one that can compete against some of the best in central Florida.
“We just got to get the kids ready,” Gabriel said. “The young kids that were making mistakes were also making mistakes at practice. And because you only get so many days of practice, you’re trying to get the kids, all of them, ready, but you’re trying to get the main kids ready too.”
