In the final non-region game of the year, the Owls made Senior Night memorable for 23 senior football players and 8 senior cheerleaders as they cruised to a 49-14 win over Oakhaven.
The Owls scored three quick touchdowns in the first quarter, all on drives of four plays or fewer. The first came after a fumble recovery by Reid McKnett at the Oakhaven 8-yard line on the second play of the game. Gavin Gatere scored from 3 yards out on the Owls’ second play after the recovery to take the early lead. Kyle Sneed’s PAT made the score 7-0 just 1:30 into the contest.
After a Tucker Davis interception and 2-yard return, MUS again scored quickly, this time on the first play of the drive as Gatere raced through the Hawks’ line and outran the secondary for the 52-yard touchdown. Sneed’s PAT doubled the gap to 14 with 8:09 left in the first quarter.
And on the Owls’ third possession, Brady Hughes hit Luke McEwan on consecutive passes, the second covering 4 yards and the touchdown for a 21-0 lead going into the second quarter.
For the remainder of the game, all the available reserves for the Owls saw good action and gained valuable experience. Maddox Giel took advantage of the opportunity to throw two touchdown passes in the second quarter, both going to Carter Sayle. The first covered 7 yards, and the second allowed Sayle to show off his speed as he caught the pass across the middle and outran defenders for the 65-yard reception. The second touchdown followed Oakhaven’s first score as they completed a 13-play, 65-yard drive that amassed 9:04. The final play of the Hawks’ drive was a 22-yard pass from Kevin Collins to Kysederon Robinson. The Owls led, 35-6, at the break.
In the third quarter, more reserves got to play as the Owls ultimately had 5 quarterbacks see action. MUS got the running-clock going in the 3rd quarter as Walker Atkinson scored from 1-yard out to culminate a 13-play, 80-yard drive that took up 6:15. Jacob Stalls’s PAT increased the lead to 42-6.
The Hawks kept fighting as they moved the ball on their next possession to score on a 17-yard touchdown pass following an Owl interception.
But MUS ended well as Dhilan Madasu scored on a 1-yard plunge to take advantage of a Miller Caldwell fumble recovery deep in Oakhaven territory. Joshua Wittber’s extra point ended the scoring as the Owls took the 49-14 win.
With his 32 kickoff return yards, Kyle Sneed moved into the top-10 for single-season return yardage as he has now amassed 348 yards this season. And with his 32 passing yards, Brady Hughes moved into 8th on the career passing yardage list as he now has 2922 yards.
Next week, the Owls travel to Briarcrest to end the regular season. With a win the Owls would be the West 4-seed and host a first-round playoff game. With a loss the Owls would be the West 5-seed and have to travel to the Mideast 4-seed in two weeks.