Mustangs Earn First Win in Double OT in Inaugural Game at Mustang Stadium
OWINGS MILLS, Md. - Trailing 43-40 and facing a third-and-4 in the second overtime, Stevenson football junior C.J. Hopson (Lusby/Patuxent) found freshman Jeromie Miller (Reisterstown/Franklin) in the corner of the end zone to give the Mustangs their first win in program history Saturday night, 46-43 in front of a sellout crowd of 3,500 fans in the inaugural game at Mustang Stadium.
Stevenson (1-1) totaled 472 yards of total offense, 375 of which came from Hopson who completed 19-of-37 pass attempts for 284 yards and five touchdowns while rushing for 91 yards on 11 carries.
Hopson threw for 110 yards in the fourth quarter, including a 67-yard touchdown pass to freshman Jae DeShields (Bridgeton, N.J./Bridgeton) with 12:55 remaining in the fourth quarter. The duo has now accounted for the two longest plays in school history after they connected for a 75-yard, first quarter touchdown pass last week at Shenandoah.
Neither team led by more than nine points Saturday with the Mustangs holding the game's largest lead at 30-21 following DeShields' second receiving touchdown of the game. He also had an 18-yard touchdown pass from Hopson with 4:29 left in the second quarter to give Stevenson its first lead of the season, 14-13.
The Captains (1-1) rallied from its nine-point, fourth quarter deficit with 12 consecutive points, highlighted by two Stephen Denuel field goals. His 19-yard field goal with 1:01 to play in the fourth quarter could have been the difference in the game, but Mustang freshman Garrett Perau (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) capped an eight-play, 46-yard drive that used just 56 seconds to tie the game for the fifth time as time expired in regulation.
Denuel and Perau combined to go 7-for-7 on field goal attempts with Denuel connecting on five, including a 21-yarder at the start of the second overtime to put Christopher Newport in front, 43-40.
Stevenson managed to force overtime despite controlling the ball for just 3:07 in the fourth quarter compared to 11:53 for the Captains. A key play in the comeback came with 4:03 remaining in the quarter when Christopher Newport botched the snap on an extra-point attempt after it scored to tie the game at 30-30.
Miller finished with a season-high eight receptions for 105 yards and two touchdowns while DeShields, who had four catches for 124 and a score last week, totaled three for 93 and two this week.
Markeese Stovall rushed for 164 yards on 31 carries to lead the Captains and Kentel Noel had seven catches for 125 yards. Christian Woelfel-Monsivais threw for 200 yards on 12-of-25 passing.
Freshman Donnell Brown (Baltimore/Poly Tech) led the Mustangs defense for the second-straight week, totaling a season-high 17 tackles, including three for loss after posting 15 a week ago. Freshman JaRon Cody (Bridgeton, N.J./Cumberland Regional) posted 10 tackles.
Stevenson looks to make more history next Saturday, September 17 when it hosts King's (Pa.) at Mustang Stadium in the program's first Middle Atlantic Conference contest beginning at 1:00 p.m.
