Warren Central was a prime opponent that the Mustangs had circled on their lists of teams to beat this season. The Dragons entered play undefeated in both JV and Varsity and looked to dethrone a couple Mustang teams sitting undefeated in JV and with one loss in Varsity.
Varsity-
Warren Central would once more start with the ball to start the Varsity game which would start with lot of physical play that would lead to numerous fouls from both sides. McCracken would be awarded a free kick from near midfield which would be taken by Blake Jeffrey which would be passed to Julian Warfield who would set up a header attempt for Johnny Stevens that would miss a header wide of the left corner by about a foot with thirty-three minutes remaining in the half.
Play would continue to be physical with many collisions and fast made plays. Warren Central would win the ball back during the twenty-first minute mark when Blake Jeffrey would make a outstanding header to return the ball to the Mustangs. The Stangs would capitalize on the header and march the ball down to the Warren Central side when Landon Grace would break away to put the first goal on the board halfway through the first half. Here’s what Grace had to say about his goal. “I was kinda just hit it left and hope it goes in, it happened to work out.”
Varsity Mustangs: 1, Warren Central: 0
Play would resume with Warren Central pressuring the Mustangs into their own zone in which the McCracken defense would prevail. The Mustangs would keep the ball in the Dragons territory leading up to the second goal of not only the game but for the Mustangs being scored by Johnny Stevens with fourteen minutes remaining. McCracken would keep Warren Central from scoring to be able to take a two goal lead into the half. Here’s what Stevens had to say about his goal. “It felt really good…uh..you know..it started with pressure from the midfield and worked it’s way up and I just had to tap it in.”
Varsity Mustangs: 2, Warren Central: 0- Half
The Stangs would start half number two with possession and capitalize as Landon Grace would net his second Mustang goal of the night to put the Mustangs up by three goals. Here’s what Grace had to say about his second goal of the night. “It was just a easy tap in and the goalie happened to not be ready for it so…it worked out well, felt pretty good.”
Varsity Mustangs: 3, Warren Central: 0
Warren Central wouldn’t take long to score as Andrew Menjivar would net the Dragons their lone goal of the contest with thirty minutes left in the half to cut the Mustang lead to two.
Varsity Mustangs: 3, Warren Central: 1
McCracken would keep possession on their side of the field for the majority of the half with a few runs by the Dragons that would lead to a foul with eleven minutes left in the game by Andrew Record just outside the eighteen yard box. Augustine Thang would take the free kick for Warren Central that would miss the net wide.
The game would relax as McCracken County’s keeper Grayson Parish would hold the ball in his goalie box for long stints during the last ten minutes that would be uncontested by the Warren Central defense. McCracken would work the ball to the near sided corner in their offensive zone as Matthew King would fight off Dragon defenders and earn a corner which would be taken by Blake Jeffrey to end the game and end the undefeated season for the Dragons as the Mustangs would win three goals to one. Here is what Landon Grace had to say after the game. “I would say..you know..it wasn’t 100 percent perfect, but I’d say we did pretty good considering what we’ve been working on and some of the past few games we struggled to put the ball in and this game I think we really improved and took a big step when it came to state rankings.”
Varsity Mustangs: 3, Warren Central: 1- Final
Junior Varsity-
It would be Dragon ball to start the game in which they applied the pressure early to the young Mustang crew. The defense of the Mustangs prevailed and returned the pressure for the much of the first half. Warren Central played with a lot of physicality that forced the Mustangs out of their game but the Mustangs handled the pressure to keep the score at zero a piece to end the half.
Warren Central: 0, JV Mustangs: 0- Half
McCracken County would begin the second half of play with the ball but would lose possession to the Dragons who would only take six minutes into the half to score when Daudi Kaburu would net the first goal of the game for the Dragons.
Warren Central: 1 JV Mustangs: 0
Play would ease into a back and forth game that saw many shots from both teams and a lot of physical play. Warren Central would eventually win back a strong run with the ball that they capped off fifteen minutes into the half by a goal scored by Anthony Gonzales which would seal the game for the Dragons and give them a shutout at the final whistle.
Warren Central: 2, JV Mustangs: 0- Final
