McCloskey and Collins combine to rush for 247 yards and four touchdowns
Memorial figured out how to keep its defense off the field. Just block for McCloskey and Collins.
Senior quarterback Tyler McCloskey and running back Mat Collins had a hand in four rushing touchdowns to lead the Memorial Mustangs to a convincing 38-14 victory over the Westside Wolves on Thursday night in the Class 5A Region III Bi-District round of the playoffs at Delmar Stadium.
The win extends the Mustangs playoff run, where it will meet Cy-Ranch in the Area round of the playoffs next week at Tully Stadium, at a time to be determined.
McCloskey and Collins combined for 247 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. All three of McCloskey’s touchdowns came on the ground, where the Mustangs piled up 303 total yards of offense. Collins led the ground game with 96 yards on 21 carries and one touchdown. McCloskey added 64 rushing yards on 16 carries, 3-TDs and 87 through the air on 3-of-10 passing.
“We run the ball, that’s our game plan. Our lineman did a great job. They opened up some holes for Matt Collins (running back) and me. Defense did a great job, giving us short fields,” says Tyler McCloskey, Memorial’s quarterback. The coverage team did well. We did a good job in all three areas of the game. Our receivers did a good job of getting open. We ran so much; our play action was open well.”
The Mustangs aggressive ground game allowed it to sprint out to a 28-0 first half lead and never looked back.
McCloskey led the Mustangs down the field to its first touchdown and scored on a 13-yard run. After Patrick Christie’s kick, Memorial led 7-0.
Defensive lineman Joe Chenoweth and linebacker Brian Womac anchored a defense that held Westside to 270 total yards.
The Mustangs didn’t waist much time scoring a second touchdown when it marched 72 yards in 6-plays. McCloskey’s 37-yard pass to receiver Ryan Baumgartner down the left side line at the Wolves 34 yard line, jump started the drive. Three plays later the Mustangs faced fourth and inches from the 25. Collins picked up the necessary yards to the 20 yard line. From there, McCloskey took over and scored from the one, to give Memorial a 14-0 lead after Christie’s kick.
“Anytime we win a playoff game, we’re really excited. The kids did a great job of stepping up, playing against a good Westside team. Our defense did a great job when they were on the field,” Memorial’s coach Gary Kock said. We’re a running football team, that’s what we do. We rely on that, Tyler and our offensive line and periodically we’ll throw it down the field but not a lot. We’re going to try to do that against anyone we play. It didn’t work to well last week against Katy because they kick us. Getting to play during the Thanksgiving weekend is great.”
Westside struggled offensively. Whether sustaining a drive or turnovers, it could never find its rhythm.
“Anytime you play Memorial you have to have you’re a-game. They don’t miss a step. We gave a valiant effort. In the second half we found some one-on-one matchups that we could get and we got some confidence. In the first half we spotted them 14-points off a kickoff and a pick, it’s hard to play against teams like that,” Westside coach Mark Byrd said.
Memorial’s next two scores were curtsey of Westside’s turnovers. Corner back Strake picked Westside’s quarterback Michael Haywood at the 21 and returned it the distance to help the Mustangs’build a 21-0 lead.
Hayward who was 12-of-28 with 153 yards passing, one touchdown and a one interception, led the Wolves on two late drives when the game was nearly decided. Receiver Cameron Shepherd caught a pair of touchdowns pass, a three yarder and one from 24. Bobby Hartzog caught five passes for 97 yards.
“In the second half we just corrected a few minor mistakes and kind of got the offense going. In the first half we just had too many mistakes. The offense was shooting itself in the foot,” says Westside quarterback Michael Haywood. We had too many three and outs. I think our defense was on the field too much.”
Dropped and incomplete passes summed up the Wolves tough night.
“For a team that lost so much coming into the season, we only had two on each side of the ball coming back from last season. We were picked fourth or fifth in our district and to do the things we did. We ended up number one on offense and number two on defense in our district,” said Coach Byrd. The kids really played well.”
Later, Mustangs defense forced a turnover on downs at the 37 of Westside which led to its fourth touchdown of the day when McCloskey capped a two-play drive with a 10-yard run, increasing the score 28-0 at the half.
Memorial led by as many as 35-0 after opening the third quarter with its fifth scoring drive. Collins’ two-yard touchdown run put the game out of reach.