Mojave falls to Alpaugh

Waybright knew there would be growing pains. And they showed Friday night.

The Mustangs showed their youth, which included poor tackling and four tournovers, and lost their home opener, 40-22, Friday night against Alpaugh at Mojave High School.

“We were in the game, we’re just so young,” Waybright said. “We’re making freshmen mistakes at the varsity level. In my 26 years of coaching I’ve never gone into a season with this much inexperience.”

The Mustangs (0-3), playing in just their second game of the season after forfeiting their opener, started off quickly on their opening possession of the game. 

Mojave quarterback Malik Vercher connected with receiver Titan Louden from 59 yards out and, just as people settled into the stands, the Mustangs led 8-0, following the 2-point conversion.

That momentum was short-lived, however, as the Buffaloes (3-2) responded with a touchdown of their own to cut the lead to 8-6. Alpaugh took the lead in the second quarter following a touchdown run by quarterback Jesse Alcazar from eight yards out to give the Buffaloes a 12-6 lead.

Alcazar and Alpaugh extended the lead later in the quarter to 20-8 following another touchdown run by Alcazar, this time from five yards out.

On the ensuing kickoff, Louden returned the ball to the Buffaloes’ 36-yard line just before halftime with 75 seconds remaining. On the first play from scrimmage, Vercher was sacked, moving the ball back to midfield. But on the next play, Vercher threw a strike to freshman Jonathon Moore over the middle as Moore got behind the defense for a 40-yard touchdown. That cut the lead to 20-14 at halftime.

“It hurts,” Louden said. “Something happened out there. We lost our momentum and we got slapped in the face. We just couldn’t get our momentum back. There’s a lot of stuff going on with us outside of football that is frustrating. But we’ll try to pick it up. I know we can get better, it’s a must. We’re not at our full potential.”

Louden finished with five receptions for 112 yards and one touchdown. Vercher finished the night 6-of-16 for 152 yards and two touchdowns. He rushed for 47 yards on 10 carries, as well. He was picked off twice and lost one fumble.

“Everybody kept slouching when we got down” Vercher said. “They got lazy. This loss wouldn’t have been as disappointing if we played better. Our tackling wasn’t good and we need to work on our blocking. We will get better. This is only our second game.”

The Mustangs, who had several players, including Vercher, get banged up, will have to get better as they play perennial power Cate next week.

Louden replaced Vercher in the fourth quarter and led Mojave to a score, trimming the lead to 26-20. But Alpaugh responded on its next drive to put the game away, following another touchdown run by Alcazar.

“With our low numbers, it’s hard to simulate an 8-on-8 in practice,” Waybright said. “Everything right now is just small group work. It’s tough.

“Blocking and tackling. We have to get really good in those two areas. Our goal each week is just to get better.”