Saying ‘goodbye’

Coach Kyle Futrell said it was one of his favorite games at Mustang Stadium. Following today’s game against Lampasas, the Marble Falls Independent School District will hold a closing ceremony and celebration for the facility because next year’s games will be played at the new Mustang Stadium at Marble Falls High School. File photo

MARBLE FALLS — After almost 40 years as Mustang Stadium, the current facility located behind Marble Falls Middle School is entering its twilight, but not before the community can walk the field one more time tonight.”

After the Marble Falls-Lampasas game, we’re going to hold a closing ceremony for the stadium,” Marble Falls Independent School District Superintendent Ryder Warren said. There will be one more scheduled game at the stadium Nov. 7.

In November 2006, school district voters approved a  $62.3 million bond project that included building a new Mustang Stadium at Marble Falls High School, 2101 Mustang Drive. Warren said the new facility should be completed by Spring Break 2009. 

“Next year, we’ll be playing football in the new stadium,” he said.

But Warren wanted the community to have one more chance to celebrate the current Mustang Stadium.

“That stadium has served this community well,” he said. “We want them to come down after the Lampasas players leave the field and we’ll let them walk the field one more time.”

During its tenure as Mustang Stadium, the field has served as the backdrop for many football games, soccer games and graduations.

Coach Kyle Futrell said one of the best things about coaching at Mustang Stadium for the past 25 years hasn’t always been the games, but the players and coaches.

“When I look back at all my years in coaching, I don’t have pictures of our win-loss records hanging on the wall,” he said. “I have pictures of people. (Coaching on Mustang Stadium) is really about the relationships.”

Though Futrell can recall several “big” games at Mustang Stadium, his “fondest” memories come down to post-game celebrations.

“I think my fondest memory is seeing people on the field after the games celebrating a Mustang win or supporting you after a tough loss. Because that’s what makes each occasion better — sharing it with somebody” he said. 

But a couple games do stand out for Futrell.

“One of them would have to be in 1992 when we were trailing Lampasas 10-3 at the half,” he said. “When we went into the locker room at the half, nobody was panicked. We just went in and said this is what we have to do. And you know what? The players responded.”

In a nine- to 10-minute span in the second half, the Mustangs scored 35 unanswered points to route the Badgers, 38-10.

“I remember looking across at the Lampasas sideline when we’re scoring those points because I had friends over there and they were trying so hard to find a way to stop us, but they were overwhelmed,” Futrell said. “After the game, the (Lampasas) defensive coordinator comes walking across the field shaking his head with this grin on his face. He said, ‘Coach, ya’ll kicked our (butt) that half.’ That’s about as good as a compliment another coach can give you.”

The win helped propel the Mustangs into the playoffs, where they went all the way to the semifinals.

Another game that stands out for Futrell was in 1998 when the Belton Tigers rolled into town for a game that would decide the district championship.

“Belton had this really good nose guard. But our center Keith Virdell took it upon himself to make it his personal mission during that game — besides everything else he was responsible for — to beat that guy,” Futrell said. 

On the Mustangs’ opening drive, the team moved the ball down the field almost at will.

“(Virdell) dominated that guy during that first drive,” Futrell said. “So Belton moves that guy from nose guard to defensive tackle so he doesn’t have to deal with Keith. So the new nose guard basically just submarines our center for the rest of the game.”

By submarining the center, Belton’s coaching staff basically decided to trade one player for another by trying to make the Mustang center (Virdell) non-effective, Futrell said.

The Tigers eventually built a 28-13 lead with about six minutes left in the game. 

“We throw what’s called a Texas screen to Brian Fry and he goes 70 yards for a touchdown,” Futrell said. 

The Mustangs made the two-point conversion, but still trailed 28-21.

“We kick off to Belton, but on their drive they throw the ball once, maybe twice, which stops the clock. It seems to me in that situation you’d want to run the ball and get a first down or two and keep the clock running,” the coach said. “But we hold them. We get the ball back and we have between 70 and 80 yards to go.”

Mustangs’ quarterback John Roberts dropped back to pass, but with the Tigers positioning as many people into the secondary as they could to prevent a big pass play, they didn’t leave him with many targets. However, Belton’s defense gave Roberts  running room.

“He ends up running it down to their three-yard line,” Futrell said. “We score on the next play. But we’re still behind 28-27. This was before overtime, so we decide to go for two.”

Offensive coordinator Randall Alford called for his standard goal-line play, called “817,” which would send Roberts around the right side. But as he went outside the defensive tackle, the linebacker mirrored him, Futrell said.

“But their nose guard had submarined our center, basically giving himself up in the process. So this leaves this giant hole that Rogers sees and runs right through. (Belton’s) decision to move their regular nose guard to tackle ended up costing them. It was a response to what one of our good players was doing, and it hurt them,” Futrell said. “I can still remember the stands and sideline just coming out and celebrating. That was our last district championship.”

The district today is letting the community come down one more time and celebrate the current Mustang Stadium before the games get moved to the new facility next fall. The field behind the middle school will be renamed Pony Stadium, Warren said. The middle school is located at 1511 Pony Circle.

“They’ll get a new track for the middle school, but a lot of the bleachers will go away and be used elsewhere,” he said. “But we’d like to let people come out and celebrate this Mustang Stadium one more time.”

The game starts at 7:30 p.m.

daniel@thepicayune.com