Manvel falls to Westfield in season opener


MANVEL — The Westfield Mustangs entered Alvin Memorial Stadium with two thoughts on their minds. They wanted to avenge their embarrassing loss to the Mavericks in last season's opener and they wanted to win the first game for new head coach Matt Meekins, who took over the reigns after his brother, Corby, moved on to join the coaching staff at the University of Houston.

Mission accomplished on both counts!

Despite fumbling the ball four times and losing three, the Mustangs were able to emerge with the non-district contest as the two state-ranked teams battled til the very last second.

After both teams traded turnovers in the opening quarter, Manvel took advantage of a second recovered fumble at their own 17 and preceeded to drive 83-yards in 14 plays capped off by a 6-yard scoring scramble for a 6-0 lead after the extra point was shanked wide of the goal post with 3:12 left in the first period.

Westfield took only a few minutes to answer with a 10-yard scoring pass at the 11:06 mark of the second quarter. The PAT was good giving the Mustangs a 7-6 lead.

With only 1:50 left in the first half, King scored again on another scrambling run covering 18-yards. King completed the 13-play, 79-yard drive by eluding two defenders, finding the left sideline for the scoring run. The Mavs came up empty on the two-point conversion leaving them clinging to a 12-7 halftime lead.

It appeared that Manvel was going to break loose as the Mavs scored an opening third quarter touchdown when wide receiver Sean Dykes found himself wide open down the middle of the field that enabled him to grab a 42-yard scoring bomb from King. RB D'Vaughn Pennamon scored the two-point conversion giving the Mavs a 20-7 advantage.

But Westfield wasn't going to go away as the Mustangs scored 22 unanswered point to take a 29-20 lead at the 6:30 mark of the fourth quarter.

The scoring run was sparked by a pass interception by Greg Green when he picked off King in the flat and raced 55-yard for a touchdown making the score 20-20.

The Mustangs would score another touchdown on a 1-yard run by quarterback Dillon Sterling-Cole and a 31-yard field goal by Gavin Do to increase the margin to 29-20.

Manvel answered with an 18-yard scoring pass from King at the 4:34 mark of the fourth period which would be the final score of the game leaving the Mavs short 29-26.

The Mavs finished with 441 total yards including 212 on the ground and 229 through the air.

King was 17-of-36 for 229 yards with two TDs and a pair of interceptions. King also scored twice on runs of 6 and 18 yards.

Things don't get any easier for the Mavs as they will face another state-ranked team in the No. 22 North Shore Mustangs on Friday, September 4 at Galena Park ISD Stadium at 7:00 p.m.