By Jennifer Fierro First place in the District 14-2A Division I standings is at stake and will be settled when the Mason High School football team welcomes Holland to R. Clinton Schulze Puncher Dome Stadium.
Kickoff is at 7:00 p.m. Friday, October 25.
Holland reached the regional semifinals last year.
“They graduated some seniors and are left with a few,” Mason head coach Michael McLeod said. “They are talented, they are very dangerous on the field. They have two guys who are weapons for them.
They are senior receiver Meshach Griffin, senior running back Marc Grinnan and junior quarterback Kalan Miller.
The Hornets (6-1, 2-0) is a spread-to-run offense featuring one-back and twoback sets. They like to run a screens and have an outside run game using Grinnan and Miller.
“The quarterback is a shifty above-average runner,” McLeod said.
One reason for this showdown is because the Punchers (6-1, 2-0 District 14-2A Division I) took care of Harper in a 56-0 shutout October 19.
McLeod noted his squad was dominant in every phase of the contest.
The defense forced three turnovers including an interception that was returned for a touchdown by junior linebacker Clancy Osbourne. Mason so good defensively that the Longhorns had more rushes (20) than rushing yards (18) and completed only 7 of 17 passes for 37 yards with two interceptions. Senior linebacker Sutten Silerio recovered a fumble and senior defensive back Mitchell Underwood had the other interception.
“It was nice to see the defense come around and be able to get them,” the coach said. “Our offense is starting to execute in a high manner.”
No Puncher had a better offensive night than sophomore running back Slade Buell, who had 107 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries.
“He’s had to step up in that next man up position,” Mc-Leod said. “He’s done a really good job in the offense.”
Mason led 28-0 after the first quarter and the advantage kept building. That allowed coaches to spread out the minutes among multiple Punchers throughout the second half. McLeod called that “program building.”
“We’re starting to come out ready to play and ready to execute in a game,” he said. “Our kids in Mason, Texas play hard. We have the guys who go first and then we have the next man up. They take that seriously. You can see them play that hard.”
Sometimes overlooked, the coach pointed out, is the offensive line. And like the other players in the offense, coaches rotated linemen in, too, and McLeod indicated he liked what he saw.
“All our linemen were the next guys up,” he said. “They did a great job. It’s impressive to see the execution in that part of the game. The pride they take in doing their job is great to see.”
Giving those minutes to other Punchers will help the program “down the road.”
The Mason junior varsity also had a big win against Harper 56-0 improve to 6-1 on the year and 2-0 in district. George Velez started the scoring with a rushing touchdown. Jaxon Valverde added the two-point conversion. Valverde then had a 60-yard punt return. Nate Nail added the two-point conversion. Davis Rosberg caught a touchdown pass from Keegan Ratliff. The two-point try was no good. Kolton Wenzel caught a 50yard touchdown pass from Valverde. Velez had another touchdown. Nail scored the final three touchdowns, one of them on an 80-yard interception for a touchdown. He also made three extra points. Defensively Cort Hickman, Wenzel and Derric Burch each had a tackle for loss, while Cass Dutton and Velez each had two tackles for loss. Dutton had two sacks and Lanning had one. Burch had a fumble recovery and Wenzel and Nail each had an interception.
Mason Puncher quarterback Carlton Schmidt prepares to pass in the Friday night match against Harper. Coach McLeod said of the outsized win, “Our kids in Mason, Texas play hard. We have the guys who go first and then we have the next man up. They take that seriously. You can see them play that hard.”
Mason led Harper 28-0 after the first quarter and the advantage kept building such that Harper was never able to score against the Punchers. That allowed coaches to spread out the minutes among multiple Punchers throughout the second half. Coach McLeod calls that “program building.” Pictured here is sophomore Kingston Garza.
The Mason Punchers (6-1, 2-0 District 14-2A Division I) took care of Harper in a 56-0 shutout Friday, October 19. First place in the District 14-2A Division I standings is at stake this Friday, October 25, as Mason High School football team welcomes the Holland Hornets to R. Clinton Schulze Puncher Dome Stadium.
