No. 1 Middle Creek fends off No. 3 Garner football in rivalry showdown

Middle Creek extended its football winning streak over rival Garner with a defensively-driven 30-10 victory Monday night before a packed Mustang Stadium.

The Mustangs (3-0), ranked No. 1 in the N&O area, held the Trojans offense to one scoring drive and played like the veteran, playoff-tested squad that they are.

Up 20-10 at the half, Middle Creek opened the third quarter with a near-sleep inducing drive that ended with a field goal (from 31 yards by Trevor Kirkland) but took five minutes and 24 seconds off of the clock.

On the defensive side, the Mustangs thwarted Garner’s attempt to get back in the game when Rasheed Martin Jr. intercepted a high Trojan pass inside of the Middle Creek 20-yard-line and returned it 66 yards to completely flip the field position.

Third-ranked Garner (2-1) did hold the Mustangs on fourth-and-goal, but the Mustangs forced a stop of their own, setting up an 8-yard TD drive that Middle Creek quarterback Dominique Shoffner ended with a powerful 6-yard run with 3:58 to play for a 30-10 lead.

The Mustangs held the Trojans to 171 yards of offense, averaging just three yards per play.

Garner jumped out to the lead when senior Dwayne Holloway read a wall of blockers down the Trojan sideline perfectly and raced away untouched on a 79-yard punt return for a touchdown with 5:41 to play in the first quarter.

Middle Creek had the response of one of the state’s more highly-regarded teams. The Mustangs chugged away over 80 yards to even the score. The drive-changer was a 30-yard connection between Dominique Shoffner and Rasheed Martin Jr. up the right sideline on a wheel route to set up a first-and-goal at the 6-yard-line. Two plays later, Shoffner went over from a yard out, tying the game after the extra-point with 1:41 left in the opening quarter.

The Middle Creek defense came up with a timely play on the first play of Garner’s ensuing drive, forcing a fumble that senior defensive end George Maya covered at the Trojan 26.

Middle Creek went right back to the big pass to start the drive, with Shoffner hitting Shammond Hicks on a straight fly route — a 26-yarder — for a 13-7 lead.

The Mustangs pushed the lead to 20-7 late in the second quarter, taking advantage of two costly Trojan penalties late in the drive. Shoffner scored on a 5-yard run for a 20-7 lead with 1:06 to play in the half.

But Garner found its offensive rhythm through the air, driving to the Mustang 7-yard-line in the closing seconds and taking a 24-yard Noah Giroux field goal to trim the margin to 10 points.

Defense, something rarely on display this early in the season, was a big part of the first half. The two teams combined for just 101 yards rushing and there were only one touchdown drive covering more than 60 yards.

The win is Middle Creek’s third straight in the series and cuts Garner’s lead all-time between the two nearby rivals to 8-4 in the regular-season and 10-5 counting playoff meetings.

Shoffner finished with 195 yards passing on 12-of-24 attempts. He had a hand in every Middle Creek touchdown.

This story was originally published September 5, 2016 at 9:18 PM with the headline "No. 1 Middle Creek fends off No. 3 Garner football in rivalry showdown."