The Mustangs held out the Cougars on the 1 foot line on their first possession; that was about the only thing that didn't go the Cougars way the rest of the afternoon. Three minutes later Jeff Abt sneaked in for the first TD and the route was on. Early in the second quarter Abt hit John Martin on a short slant that JMart took 74 yards for a TD. Matt Krob added an 11 yard TD run in the second quarter and then with only 90 seconds left in the half, Jeff Abt took a QB counter 82 yards for another TD to make the halftime score 29-0. Erik Castillo intercepted on the 1 yard line to set up the offense with an opportunity for that last score.
Despite an opening Mustang drive that took 7 minutes off the clock to start the second half, the Black Swarm made life miserable for the visitors. Ralph Vallier broke up a pass in the end zone to keep the shutout going. The offense continued to pile up yards in the third quarter and on into the fourth, eventually turning the ball over on downs on the Mustang 6. Midway through the fourth, though, Colin MacDiarmid took a pass in the flat from Jeff Abt and broke three tackles en route to the end zone from 25 yards out. Colin was the leading receiver for the Cougars with 5 catches and has continued to improve with each week.
One more defensive stand by the Black Swarm insured the Cougars of their 5th shutout in their last 7 games, and Stuart Trahan ran the ball three times, gaining two first downs and burning up the last two minutes of the game. These two teams did battle twice this season and have the utmost respect for each other.
Northland held the statistical edge in yards gained 451-256, first downs 17-14, and takeaways 3-0. Jeff Abt had his finest all-around game of the year with 225 yards and 2 TD's on 10 of 14 passing and 128 yards rushing on 11 carries with 2 TD's.
The Cougars will face the winner of the Argyle Liberty Christian – Ft. Worth Southwest Christian game. Both teams are very physical and playoff tested. It will be a great game, whichever team advances.
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