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Mr. Anderson: Auston runs wild in West's 47-7 win over Flower Mound
BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@starlocalnews.com
MURPHY -- Flower Mound (2-3) played with fire for two quarters of the team's game Friday night at Kimbrough Stadium against Plano West (3-2).
In the third, the Jaguars got burned.
The Wolves scored 27 points in the third while the Jaguars countered with 23 yards as West increased its lead from 20-7 to 47-7, which would also be the final in both team's non-district finale.
Indeed they did as West scored on its first four second-half possessions.
Two of those came from Auston Anderson. The junior running back, who had 152 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries, ran for a 57-yard touchdown on the first play of West's third drive of the half and then followed up with an 11-yard touchdown that ended with him leaping over a defender.
"I felt like I played well tonight," Anderson said. "But the offensive line was a big part of that. (Sophomore) Jordan Diggs made his first start and he just fit right in; we have a real physical, tough offensive line."
Hughes was also quick to give props to the boys up front.
"Our offensive line just keeps getting better and better," he said.
Prior to Anderson's last two touchdowns, which upped the tally to 47-7 with 1:26 remaining in the third, West went to the air.
Senior quarterback Travis Korry, who also had 102 yards rushing and a score on 10 carries, connected on touchdown passes of 48 yards to senior Zac Gideo and 13 yards to senior Trevor Thomas to start the half and give West a 33-7 lead. Korry completed 9-of-14 for 177 yards. Gideo nabbed four balls for 106 yards while senior Austin Copeland added 58 yards receiving on three catches.
"We have guys that can score at anytime," Hughes said.
That's not to say everything went perfectly in the second half for West as the Wolves turned the ball over two times with Blake Spencer scooping up one of the fumbles for Flower Mound.
"That's something we're going to have to go back and work on," Hughes said, "eliminating those mistakes."
Flower Mound could sympathize with that plight in the first half.
After punting on its opening drive, the Jaguars advanced to the Wolves 32-yard line on the second series of the game. But sacks by West senior Tucker Hill and junior Lance Cottrell along with a penalty forced Flower Mound to punt.
"We shot ourselves in the foot at times tonight," said Dane Johnson, Flower Mound head coach. "We need to be about ball control and execution, but we're not doing that."
West, which already held a 7-0 advantage thanks to a 3-yard touchdown from Anderson on the team's opening drive, needed only one play to pad its lead as Korry took the ball to the house from 80 yards out.
"West was controlling us on the line of scrimmage," Johnson said. "They were pushing us back 3-4 yards off the line. And when your defenders don't get to touch those running backs or that quarterback until they are 5 yards past the line of scrimmage then you have no chance."
Flower Mound's defense showed flashes in the first half as Nathan Liebsch recovered a fumble and Daniel DeLorimiere, who also recovered a fumble, registered a sack to force a West punt.
The Jags took advantage of the opportunity and put their first points up.
Led by quarterback Connor Wanhanen, who ceded his spot to Matt Hirst in the second half, Flower Mound moved 68 yards in eight plays, reaching the end zone on a 14-yard pass to Finn Foster to make it 14-7 with 5:53 remaining in the half. Foster was one of four receivers, along with Jett Meenach, Caleb Brake and Cole McKeel, to have multiple catches. Wanhanen completed 7-of-9 passes for 76 yards while Hirst completed 6-of-17 for 45 yards. McKeel and Hirst were also Flower Mound's primary rushers with the former going for 77 yards on 17 carries and the latter 42 yards on nine carries.
But the Jaguars wouldn't score again.
"I thought the defense really came together tonight," said Nick Green, West senior defensive lineman, who forced Flower Mound punts with a sack and pass knockdown. "No one was slacking, everyone was moving toward the ball, so we got a lot of pressure up the middle."
While Flower Mound was shut down, West responded immediately.
The Wolves moved 75 yards in 11 plays, taking a 20-7 lead with 1:49 left in the second quarter following a 2-yard run by Sotonya Jamabo. West's sophomore running back toted the rock 13 times for 77 yards.
That made it 20-7 at the half and set the stage for a huge third quarter that put West back on the winning track, 47-7, after a defeat against Mesquite last week.
"That loss to Mesquite made us better," Hughes said. "We looked at that Mesquite game as an important one for our mindset; I think we learned a lot about our team from that game and we will be better for it going forward."
West and Flower Mound both have byes next week.
The Wolves open District 10-5A at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 12 on the road against McKinney Boyd while the Jaguars begin 5-5A play at the same time at Lewisville.
"The first five games were designed to get us ready for district and that's our focus now," Johnson said. "We've done some good things, but we also have plenty that we need to correct and we also need to start playing with some confidence as we head into season No. 2."
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