The Sunnyvale Sun

Sports

Mustangs run over Branham in 35-14 win

By Greg Lydon

For the second straight week, Homestead's ground attack overwhelmed its opponent as the Mustangs improved to 2-0 in the young '07 season by defeating Branham 35-14 on Friday afternoon at Branham.

The one-two punch of Darnell Green and Kevin Rogers led the way for the Mustangs, who followed up their huge rushing totals in week one with big numbers again against the Bruins.

Green rushed for 154 yards on 13 carries, while Rogers ran the ball 22 times for 97 yards. Rogers ran for 258 yards in a 33-0 blowout victory against Silver Creek in the first week of the season.

Green put the ball on the ground on the opening play of the game but left a smile on his coach's face when things were said and done.

The next drive following the fumble, Green took a counter play and sprinted his way down the far sideline 61 yards deep into Bruin territory.

"After the first play I knew I needed to do more and keep pushing," the speedy Green said. "It felt like the line didn't miss a block all day. It felt good to get that big run there to get things back on the right track."

Rogers dashed for a 11-yard run as Homestead looked to open the scoring. Jeremy Hull chipped in 79 yards on the ground on 13 carries for Branham, but his play of the day came on the opening drive with a full-extension tip that prevented a touchdown pass by Homestead quarterback Rex Blodgett.

The Mustangs converted a huge fourth and 15 play when a timely Blodgett pass found wideout Tommy McCormick for a huge 17-yard gain to preserve the opening scoring drive.

Kalani Markle finished with 107 yards on 12 carries, while speedy teammate Jeremy Hull ran 13 times for 79 yards as the one-two punch for Branham helped them tie the score 7-7 to end the opening quarter.

Zach Snyder, Casey Anker and Jeff Arellano led a veteran battle-tested offensive line that kept the chains moving in the second quarter as the Mustangs continued to roll, adding two more rushing touchdowns.

Rogers ran seven times on a lengthy second-quarter drive before punching in a 10-yard touchdown run to make the score 14-7 Homestead. After a sound three-and-out forced by the Mustang defense and a 10-yard punt, Homestead added a little more insurance. Blodgett took matters into his own hands when all routes were covered as he scrambled six yards to end another Homestead drive in the end zone.

Homestead took a 21-7 lead into the half before applying the backbreaker midway through the third quarter.

Rogers didn't waste time after the fourth down conversion, taking a first-and-goal hand-off from the eight and powering through the middle for a touchdown to give the Mustangs a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

Fourth down plays continued to haunt Branham as a fourth-and-two dive play turned into Darnell Green exploding 53 yards to the end zone to extend Homestead's lead to 28-7 midway through the third period.

"We stepped it up when we needed to today," Homestead coach Charlie Bostic said. "They have two really excellent high school running backs that gave us problems today, but our defense kept things under control, and Darnell made some big plays for us on both sides of the ball."

Green wasn't finished after the big run, as he put the nail in the coffin for Branham, stepping in front of a slant route for an huge interception as Branham drove to cut into the 28-14 Homestead lead. The defensive play of the game came with 6:26 left on the clock, securing the road victory for the Mustangs.

"When the ball was in the air, all that was going through my mind was, 'I'm going to take this ball before he gets to it,' " Green said. "I was thinking slant route and I didn't let him get inside of me. Our goal for this season is a league championship; we set high goals and we have the talent to get it done here."

Linebacker J.J. Kizine made things miserable for Branham quarterback Kyle Cool all afternoon, which provided a positive feeling for Homestead going into the rest of the season.

"We've ran the ball very effectively the first two weeks, which is the strength of our team, but our defense had really played well for us as well," Bostic said. "We can contend for a league championship if we stay healthy."