Middle Creek outlasts Green Hope football, inches towards unbeaten season

Middle Creek outlasted Green Hope 28-19 Friday night thanks to a formidable defensive effort that has the Mustangs on the brink of their first unbeaten regular season in school history.

“I’m impressed with what we’ve done so far,” said Mustangs coach Randy Ragland. “One more regular-season game to go, and we’ve got a chance to do something that’s never been done before at Middle Creek.”

The Mustangs (10-0, 5-0) needed a stout showing from their defense after the Falcons (6-4, 3-3) largely held Middle Creek in check. By night’s end, the Mustangs forced four turnovers, sacked Green Hope’s quarterback six times and allowed 306 yards.

“They’re definitely battled-tested, that’s for sure,” Ragland said. “After last week (against Fuquay-Varina) and then this week against a completely different offense, I’m proud of all those guys on defense.”

The Mustangs led 14-7 at halftime, and their two touchdowns came on a pair of quick strikes. Dareke Young caught a 52-yard TD pass from quarterback Dominique Shoffner, and Shammond Hicks caught a 56-yard TD pass in the second quarter.

On the first series of the second half, the Mustangs flexed their considerable muscle up front, demonstrating their constant disruption to Green Hope’s offensive timing.

Daniel Jackson flew into the backfield, but Green Hope quarterback Tucker Burkinshaw sidestepped the rush. Thanks to blanket coverage in the secondary, Jackson had time to get up and chase Burkinshaw again. Feeling the pressure, Burkinshaw threw a pass that Middle Creek linebacker Keith Phillips intercepted and returned 16 yards for a touchdown and a 21-7 lead.

But Green Hope proved resilient, and the Falcons duplicated Middle Creek’s scoring with a pair of big plays of their own in the third quarter.

Burkinshaw connected with Conner Redick on a 52-yard strike, and on the next series, hit Blake Watson for a 62-yard TD. But the conversion attempts after both scores failed, leaving the Falcons down 21-19.

The Falcons had their chances for the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter, but the Mustangs defense snuffed them out. With 3:21 to play, Johnathan Spencer intercepted a pass. And five plays later, DeAndre Jones put the game away with a 4-yard touchdown run.

This story was originally published October 30, 2015 at 10:20 PM with the headline "Middle Creek outlasts Green Hope football, inches towards unbeaten season."