Sep. 6—Even after losing one of its best players, Mantachie’s football team has plenty of reason for optimism.
The Mustangs are 2-0 after wins against Tishomingo County and Ashland. The latter victory came without linebacker and running back Austin Nichols, who suffered a season-ending ACL injury in the opener.
Nichols, a junior, rushed for 107 yards against Tishomingo County. But even with him gone, Mantachie’s single wing attack excelled last week, racking up 196 rushing yards in the 35-12 win.
Second-year head coach Ken Adams said his players are ahead of schedule in mastering the single wing.
“Usually it takes about a year-and-a-half for it to click,” Adams said. “We’ve still got a few kinks, but (Jaycob) Hawkes is able to throw the football. He understands the difference in a spread offense passing game and a single wing passing game.”
Hawkes, a junior quarterback, completed just 1 of 5 passes against Ashland, but that one completion was a 41-yard touchdown to Brayden Frazier.
Hawkes doesn’t need to throw it too often. He has a deep stable of running backs that includes Luke Ellis, Hunter Hester, Braedon Sauls and Jase White.
Each one of those players rushed for at least 25 yards against Ashland and collectively averaged 11.7 yards per carry.
“We have so many different options with the single wing stuff, and we also run the option,” Adams said.
The Mustangs also have a high degree of confidence, despite the program’s history. Mantachie went 4-6 last season and won a playoff game for the first time since 2013. In the three seasons prior to Adams’ arrival, Mantachie was 3-19, including an 0-11 mark in 2018.
“What we stress to our kids is we have an expectation to be the best version of ourselves every day in practice, every Friday night,” said Adams. “If we do all the things right that we need to do Monday through Thursday, then Friday kind of takes care of itself.
“I’m proud of our kids, our coaches and our community. They expect to do well, and that means a lot.”
Mantachie returns to action Friday when it visits Hatley (1-1).
