Mustangs aim for a happy homecoming

MARBLE FALLS — The goal this homecoming week is simple for the Marble Falls High School football team.

“To play together and to get back to feeling like we need to and like we like to feel after we win a ballgame,” head coach Cord Woerner said. “The bottom line is we’re trying to win a football game Friday night. That’s all we’re trying to do.”

The Mustangs will welcome Lampasas to Mustang Stadium today as the featured presentation of homecoming week at 7:30 pm.

And though Lampasas is winless this season, Woerner said fans should not read too much into that.

“You look at their schedule, they played some good football teams,” he said. “They’ve had their troubles and they’ve struggled in some areas.”

Three different players have lined up at quarterback for the Badgers, but the team is led by Vann Millican, who has 15 completions for 239 yards. 

Brode Dubose has rushed 28 times for 175 yards, while Edward Grant has 20 rushes for 157 yards.

“When you watch film, they move the ball well at times against some good football teams,” Woerner said. “They’ve had trouble finishing drives off. They’re moving the ball against some good ball clubs. They’re dangerous.”

The Badgers enjoy running out of the wishbone formation and also will line up in the double slot and double split to spread the field. 

The key to this game for the Mustang defense comes down to one factor, Woerner said.

“We have to be more aggressive,” he said. “We have to make more of an effort to get to the football – to get through the blocks and get to the football.”

The Mustangs skipper said he wants the defense to get back to wanting to make the play more than the offense wants to block them.

“That’s the cure,” he said. 

Offensively, the Mustangs will continue to rely on quarterback Thor Woerner and fullback Austin Sparks. 

Between them, the duo has 1,085 rushing yards on the season. Woerner has passed for more than 1,000 yards with Justin Garcia and Copper Bowen receiving more than 200 yards apiece. 

The Lampasas defense takes a get-after-it approach, Woerner said.

“They have a couple of kids who are very aggressive,” he said. “They’ve done a good job in spots of penetrating and causing some problems.”

The coach said Lampasas’ defense is not unfamiliar.

“We should be comfortable with blocking schemes,” he said. “We need to not make the big mistake or miss assignments that set you back.”

That includes poor snaps, penalties and turning the ball over, which has been the case in the three district losses. 

Still, Woerner said his players have kept their heads up and their positive attitudes.  

“I’ve been very proud of the guys all year,” he said. “We feel like we could have gotten after it a little more than we did last week (in the 21-14 loss to Hutto). We are going to be anxious to fix that.”

The winner of tonight’s game is the team that wants victory more, he added. 

“The biggest question is going to be who shows up and gets after it the hardest,” he said. “We plan on that being us.” 

Photo by Virgil Belk/Hill Country Sports Images