The end of the 2018 Mustang football season left a lot of questions in the minds of fans. With departures from key players such as Kyle Mill and Blake Fischer, Class of 2019, among many others, including Head Coach Matthew Klein, some wondered what would happen as the team would be left with a new coach and an inexperienced team compared to years past. 

But, all worries were shot down in the fourth quarter of Friday’s matchup against the Kirkwood Pioneers, who are just three years removed from their Division Six State title, and one season removed from a 58-20 routing of the Mustangs. 

In this pivotal final quarter, the Mustangs completely rewired the game, turning the 17-7 nailbiter in which they were trailing into a 42-23 blowout in favor of the Mustangs after five touchdowns from junior Running Back Chris Kreh.

“It was a great quarter for us,” Kreh said. “We were able to undo the problems we had in the first three quarters and we just ran away with it.” 

Kreh, the team’s leading scorer, has seen consistent playtime throughout this season, carrying the ball in for 11 touchdowns in all three games played by the Mustangs this season.

“We were able to wear them down, and that was when we were able to really take control.” Kreh said. “It’s great, ‘cause we knew what was coming.”

The team drilled using known plays from Kirkwood to prepare for this next game, which Kreh said prepared them heavily.

Chase Callahan, senior, credits his pick six in the game’s second quarter to this. 

“I knew what was going to happen, and I took advantage of that.” Callahan said. “It felt awesome to make it work like that.” 

Callahan said  he’s going to use this tactic to take advantage of the team’s matchup this Friday, Sept. 20, against the Parkway South Patriots at Marquette.

“We can’t take any game lightly, even if they’ve struggled this season, and we’ll prepare for this matchup just like any other,” Callahan said.

The team will use their junior varsity team to “simulate” plays against the Patriots, and will again try to take full advantage of knowing certain plays as they happen.

Micheal Stewart, head coach for the varsity team agreed with Callahan’s gameplan. 

“We obviously want to go into every game with that mindset,” Stewart said.

In his first season as head coach, Stewart has led the team to out score their opponents 110-23 and a 3-0 record. Stewart said  this success comes from a very strong rushing attack and a lock down defense.

“Any time you start the season with two shutouts, you know you are doing something right.” Stewart said. “We have a strong line, and an even stronger group of linebackers, which can nullify most teams on offense.”

Stewart said the most important thing for this team and its success, however, is to continue keeping their highly disciplined play up. 

“Discipline is key, and I want to see it spread throughout this program.” Stewart said, “It will continue to carry this team to new heights.”