By Sedrick Bolton III October 7, 2022
JONESBORO Mustangs' senior running back Andrew Craig scored three out of four touchdowns to propel Morrow to their second straight win and first away game victory.
Coming into this game, both teams had identical records of 3-3 overall, and 2-1 in their region.
Morrow got the ground game going in the first half, with Craig being responsible for a majority of the carries. But their scoring came from the special teams with senior Clenton Rafe IV returning a Cardinals punt. Following a 38-yard TD from Cardinals' senior Devon Rainey, Craig returned the kickoff for an immediate Mustang score.
Despite Morrow's momentum, Jonesboro evened the score at 14 with a rushing TD from quarterback Jontavious Wyman and a two-point conversion. The half ended with Cardinals' defensive end Jaylon Cross sacking the Mustangs' QB.
Jonesboro suffered from penalties throughout the entire game.
"We made several big plays and penalties called them back," said Jonesboro's head coach Tim Floyd. "Penalties plagued us all season and we got to get those penalties cleaned up if we're to reach some of those goals that we had".
Jonesboro began their drive in the third quarter with three consecutive holding calls. Following Morrow's drive, the Cardinals fumbled and Morrow's defensive end Greg Ponder recovers the loose ball. The Mustangs capitalized by scoring off a carry from Craig breaking the tie and leading 21-14.
Following an illegal substitution on the Cardinals, they went three-and-out to give the ball back to Morrow. Craig capped off his third TD with a huge run from near midfield. The Mustangs entered the fourth up 28-14.
With 5:06 left to play, the stadium lights turned off. As the crowd raised their phones in the air for its flashlights, the game paused. After nearly 20 minutes, the Cardinals started inside the Mustangs' 20-yard line.
On fourth down, Morrow's sophomore Yvens Louis gets the strip sack to force the turnover. But after a three-and-out, Jonesboro takes over with 2:33 left to play.
From their 37-yard line, Wyman escapes multiple tackles to score for the Cardinals. After the successful two-point conversion, they trailed 28-22 with 1:18 remaining.
Jonesboro attempted an onside kick, but Morrow recovers. On third down for the Mustangs, Craig gets another big run to the outside to seal the game.
After the game, Coach Floyd talks about how preparation is going to be something the team works on for their next game.
"We have a bye week next week so we'll practice a couple of days and focus on those things," said Coach Floyd. "Learning to excite a little bit better, clean up those penalties, and just some things like that".
This is first time since 2011 that Coach Floyd played against Morrow. Prior to this game, he went 3-0 on his matchups with Morrow.
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