By Scott Nickerson
Elmore/Autauga News
When Minor converted a 4th and 5 and scored a 21-yard touchdown on the following play, the visiting Tigers went up 28-14 with 9:36 left in the game. But when Stanhope Elmore Senior Quarterback Jacob Bryant found KO Jackson for a 17-yard touchdown pass with 3 minutes left in the game, the Mustangs trailed by one touchdown, and only had 1 timeout remaining.
The Mustangs’ defense came up with a fumble recovery at the SEHS 45-yard line with 1:20 remaining, giving the offense an opportunity to tie the game, but before running a play, the Mustangs had a delay of game penalty. The Mustangs were able to move the ball into Minor territory and faced a 4th down with 20 seconds left in the game, but Bryant was sacked on his drop back and unable to get a pass attempt off.
The Minor Tigers started the game with a heavy dose of running the ball. After the Mustangs punted on their first drive, the Tigers ran the ball 9 times of a 10-play drive, rushing for 81-yards on the scoring drive.
In the 2nd quarter, Minor picked off a Mustangs’ pass and returned the ball to the SEHS 26-yard line. They scored a few plays later to go up 14-0 with 4:26 remaining in the 1st half.
But the Mustangs struck back quickly. Bryant found Darien Smoke on a screen pass, and the wide receiver bounced off a would-be tackler and raced 48-yards for a touchdown, to cut the lead to 14-7, which was the score at the half.
Stanhope Elmore tied the game in the 3rd quarter. Bryant found Jackson for a 26-yard pass and McQueen scored from 1-yard out to tie the game and give the Mustangs the momentum. But Minor took the momentum back less than two minutes later, when the Tigers scored a touchdown on a 40-yard run to go up 21-14 heading into the final quarter, which saw the Tigers score another touchdown and the Mustangs’ comeback attempt fall short.
In the final game of his high school career, Stanhope Elmore Senior quarterback Jacob Bryant passed for 129 yards and 2 touchdowns with 1 interception.
McQueen rushed for 125 yards and 1 touchdown. Jackson and Smoke both had 3 receptions and a touchdown receiving.
Junior kicker Colby Beyer was 3-3 on extra points. For the season, Beyer was 36-37 on extra point attempts and also made 4 field goals.
The Mustangs record for the 2023 season was 3-7.
