Mustangs trounce Saints in season opener

The Murray Mustangs defeated the Melcher-Dallas Saints Aug. 23 in their season opener game 74-26 in a game that lasted over three hours.

The Mustangs kicked off the first quarter with two touchdowns and two successful two-point conversions in the first quarter to Melcher-Dallas’ one - the first touchdown came on a nine-yard run by senior Caden Page, followed by a successful pass from Page to sophomore Keegan Chew for the additional two. The second touchdown again went to Page with an 18-yard run, and a run by Chew for two.

The second quarter saw another Page touchdown at the 8:39 mark, followed by a pass from Page to sophomore Ayden Lamb for two, widening the score to 24-6 in Murray’s favor. The Mustangs would score twice more in the quarter - a 16-yard run by freshman Wylee Wright and an 18-yard pass to Chew for six each, and a run both times by Page for an extra two, leaving the score 40-6 going into the half.

Melcher-Dallas put themselves back on the scoreboard about halfway through the third quarter, with Murray returning to the board with six, followed by eight more for Melcher-Dallas and another eight for Murray to leave a wide score gap of 54-20.

Murray put another 20 points on the board in the fourth quarter - a 10-yard pass from Chew to Lamb followed by a pass from Chew to sophomore AJ Clarke for two, a 30-yard pass from Chew to Clarke with a followed failed run and a final touchdown by Wright in the last minute on the clock with a failed pass to bring the final score of 74 for Murray; Melcher-Dallas put another six on the board in the quarter.

The game was remarked as a good one to start the season. Wright ran for over 100 yards in his first varsity game, filling in for sophomore Nolan Gannon, who was last year’s leading rusher and tackler. Both teams had issues with penalties, with 26 accepted penalties between the two teams - Murray with 11 for 93 yards and Melcher-Dallas with 15 for 107 yards.

The Mustangs host Colo-Nesco (1-0) Friday at 7 p.m.

Stats

Murray: 16-24-14-20

Melcher-Dallas: 6-0-14-6

Murray individual stats

RUSHING

Keegan Chew 3-(-4)-1; Caden Page 11-115-4; Ayden Lamb 1-7; Wylee Wright 20-110-2; Dawson McMullen 1-1; Total 36-229-7

PASSING

Chew 8/10-106-3; Page 6/12-98-0-1(I); Total 14/22-204-3-1(I)

RECEIVING

Chew 1-26; AJ Clarke 1-30-1; Keaton Brammer 5-61; Jaxon Darby 1-16; Lamb 5-66-2; Wright 1-5; Total 14-204-3

DEFENSE (total tackles-solo-sacks-for loss)

Chew 3.5-2-0-3.5; Page 9.5-7-2; Clarke 1.0-0-0; Seth McMurry 3.0-2-1-1.0; Brammer 0.5-0-0; Darby 4.0-2-1.5-2.0; Lamb 2.5-2-0; Daniel Grad 1.0-1-0-1.0; Wright 1.0-1-0; Wyatt Patton 1.5-0-0; Austin Peterson 4.5-3-0.5-2.5; Colin Aschan 1.0-1-0-1.0; Total 33.0-21-5.0-11.0

FUMBLE RECOVERIES

Gard - 1

KICKING

Brammer 1-31; Ely Yoder 1-38; Peterson 9-346-3(TB); Total 11-415-3(TB)

KICK RETURNS

Chew 3-4; Lamb 1-12; Aschan 1-0; Total 5-16

PUNT RETURNS

Lamb 2-27

TWO-PT CONVERSIONS

Chew 2; Page 2; Clarke 1; Lamb 2; Total 7

Melcher-Dallas team stats

RUSHING

20-162-2

PASSING

4/8-76-1

RECEIVING

4-76-1

DEFENSE (total-solo-sacks-for loss)

36.5-27-2.0-3.0

INTERCEPTIONS

1 (Ryan Heaton)

KICKING

5-95

KICK RETURNS

6-188-1

PUNTING

4-61

TWO-PT CONVERSIONS

1