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Mustangs vs. Riceville II 2002 (Championship Game)Mustangs 14 Riceville 16 Championship Game, The Agony of Defeat. . .By Jeff McQueen, the "Voice of the Hill" The third game of the day pitted the 10-1 Loudon Mustangs against the 11-0 Riceville Wildcats. Loudon started on defense, stopping the ‘Cats by recovering a fumble (#2 Matthew Wallace). The Big Red offense responded with a 12-play drive, culminating in a 14-yard touchdown by #10 Dain McNabb. The ‘Stang defense frustrated the Riceville offensive again, this time by picking off an errant pass by #24 Coty Russell. At the half, Loudon owns the scoreboard with a 6-0 advantage. The Mustangs opened the 3rd quarter with a four-play drive, totaling 44 yards. Riceville had attempted an on-sides kick, that gave Loudon the short field. #10 Dain McNabb bullied in from the four-yard line for the score and posted the 2-pt conversion himself. Rice’ scored to pull within 6 points. After 3 quarters, the score is 14-8 Mustangs. Loudon and Rice traded punts, and then the ‘Stang offense went on a 10-play drive that ate up most of the clock in the 4th period. Stalled on the Wildcat 30 yard line, Loudon gave up the ball on downs. The ‘Cats had less then one-minute on the clock and 70 yards to go. On third down the Riceville quarterback was flushed from the pocket and scrambled all the way down field for a touchdown. The ‘Cats lined up for the go ahead conversion attempt. In an unusual play, three things appeared to happen: the Wildcat runner was down, the Wildcat runner made an illegal forward lateral, and the recipient of the lateral stepped out of bounds? The officials didn’t see it that way, and with 10 seconds left, Rice’ moves ahead 16-14 and claims the Championship victory.
Congratulations to the Mustangs, head Coach Scott Newman, assistant coaches, and Mustang cheerleaders on your 10-2 runner-up season.
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