STAFF REPORT

BROOKESMITH – The Brookesmith Mustangs vented two years’ worth of frustration during Friday night’s 68-52 win over the Blanket Tigers.

“I’m a little shell-shocked right now,” Edmondson said after his Mustangs improved to 6-2 overall and 3-0 in District 15-1A Division II. “They’ve beat us out for district the last two years, but I told our kids that this was our time.”

If Brookesmith can finish the job next week and beat Sidney (2-1 in district), the Mustangs can earn their first district championship since 1985.

“We’re excited for the opportunity to play for our first district championship in 30 years,” Edmondson said. “We’ve got to take care of Sidney. They’re a good football team.”

Brookesmith’s Avery Williford rushed for 218 yards and touchdowns of 44, 54 and 33 yards on just 13 carries to lead the Mustangs past Blanket. The 180-pound junior also returned a kickoff 77 yards for a touchdown and caught a 37-yard scoring pass.

“This feels great. We’ve been working for this for the last two years,” Williford said. “The difference tonight is that we played with heart. It was a back-and-forth game.”

Senior Johnathan Willoughby added 116 yards rushing and touchdowns of 5 and 20 yards for the Mustangs. He also threw the scoring pass to Williford. Teammate Randall Williams returned the opening kickoff 50 yards for a touchdown and scored on a 17-yard pass from Zack Ferguson. Ferguson threw for two TDs and intercepted a pass on defense.

“They’ve got two big, strong, physical backs, and we couldn’t tackle them,” Blanket coach Tyler Tabor said of Williford and Willoughby. “They played a little faster than we did tonight. My hat’s off to them.”

Blanket lost two of its top skill players during the game to injuries in Hector Castaneda and Damon Carrillo. But sophomore Brayden Day stepped up big for Blanket, rushing for 293 yards and TDs of 55, 22, 73 and 45 yards. Day had run for 508 yards in the Tigers’ first eight games this season.

“He has been steady, but he hasn’t been our workhorse back,” Tabor said of Day. “He hooked it up tonight for us.”

Blanket quarterback Carlos Morales finished 7-of-21 passing for 108 yards and TDs of 10 yards to Tyler Simpson and 65 yards to Hayden Rodgers.

Williford scoring runs of 44 and 54 yards, plus a defensive stop, combined to give Brookesmith to a 22-8 first-quarter lead. The Mustangs never led by more than 18 points, but the Tigers never led after the first quarter.

The teams traded three touchdowns each during the first six minutes of the third quarter. Blanket scored third-quarter touchdowns on runs of 73 and 45 yards by Day, plus on a 10-yard pass from Morales to Simpson in the back of the end zone. Brooksmith answered with Willoughby’s 5-yard touchdown run, Williford’s 37-yard scoring reception, and Willoughby’s 20-yard TD run.

But after Williford broke an attempted tackle along the sideline during a 33-yard scoring run that gave Brookesmith a 68-52 lead, neither offense scored during the final 8½ minutes.

Each team threw an interception in the fourth quarter, Brookesmith’s defense held Blanket on downs, and the Mustangs ran out the final 3:18.

“I was afraid to ever lose the lead,” Edmondson said. “I didn’t want to give them any life. We intercepted two passes in the second half, and even though we didn’t convert either of them into touchdowns, we kept them from scoring.

“Blanket has big linemen, and they’re hard to move. I thought we blocked well and did a decent job of blocking them.”

Brookesmith 68, Blanket 52

Score by Quarters:

Blanket 8 16 22 6 — 52

Brookesmith 22 20 20 6 — 68

First Quarter

BR — Randall Williams 50 kickoff return (kick failed), 9:51

BL — Brayden Day 55 run (Mario Morales kick), 8:49

BR — Avery Williford 44 run (Williams kick), 7:49

BR — Williford 54 run (Williams kick), 6:05

Second Quarter

BL — Day 22 run (Morales kick), 8:03

BR — Williford 54 run (Williams kick), 6:05

BL — Damon Carrillo 6 run (M. Morales kick), 5:50

BR — Williams 17 pass from Zack Ferguson (kick failed), 2:04

BR — Tristen Slayton 40 pass from Ferguson (kick failed), 0:46

Third Quarter

BL — Day 73 run (kick failed), 9:43

BR — Johnathan Willoughby 5 run (kick failed), 6:45

BL — Tyler Simpson 10 pass from Carlos Morales (M. Morales kick), 5:17

BR — Williford 37 pass from Willoughby (kick failed), 4:57

BL — Day 45 run (M. Morales kick), 4:36

BR — Willoughby 20 run (Williams kick), 3:43

Fourth Quarter

BL — Hayden Rodgers 65 pass from C. Morales (kick failed), 9:42

BR — Williford 33 run (kick failed), 8:33

Bla Bro

First Downs 12 14

Rushes-Yards 26-344 31-332

Passing Yards 108 98

Total Yards 452 430

Comp-Att-Int 7-21-2 4-7-1
Punts 2-25 1-24
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties-Yards 1-10 5-40

Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Blanket – Brayden Day 15-293, Damon Carrillo 5-24, Hector Castaneda 3-16, Brady Furry 3-11. Brookesmith – Avery Williford 13-218, Johnathan Willoughby 16-116, Team 2-(-)2.

PASSING: Blanket – Carlos Morales 7-21-2 for 108. Brookesmith – Zack Ferguson 3-3-0 for 61, Willoughby 1-4-1 for 37.

RECEIVING: Blanket – Tyler Simpson 5-41, Hayden Rodgers 1-65, Furry 1-2. Brookesmith – Randall Williams 2-21, Tristen Slayton 1-40, Williford 1-37.

RECORDS: Brookesmith is 6-2, 3-0 in District 15-1A Division II. Blanket is 6-3, 2-1.