It was a heavyweight type of fight Friday night in Claude as the Mustangs and Happy duked it out for four quarters with a Dempsey landing the knockout punch as the Cowboys took down Claude, 52-50.
This game was a back-and-forth affair all night as Happy led 44-42 after a Thomas Slack two-yard plunge pulled the Mustangs to within two points with 3:15 remaining in the game. Cowboys head coach Stacy Perryman then turned to his prize fighter, Luke Dempsey, to close this one out.
Taking over at their own 33 after recovering an onside kick, Happy (2-3) methodically marched down the field behind the running of the stout senior. Dempsey carried the ball on five of the six plays in the game clinching drive and delivered the knockout punch, just like the prize fighter Jack Dempsey. The hard-nosed runner capped off the possession on his thirtieth carry of the evening, an eight-yard run to put the Cowboys up by ten, 52-42 with 1:47 remaining in the game.
Perryman was quick to note the type of player Dempsey has become.
“His progression has been really cool to see,” Perryman said. “Luke’s carrying the ball 25 to 30 times a game and playing middle linebacker for us. The guy he is right now is nowhere near the guy he was to start the season and he’s only getting better”.
Claude (2-3) had one last ditch attempt at a comeback after Jett Godfrey found Trapper Godfrey on a 33-yard scoring strike to cut the lead to 52-50 with 1:02 remaining to be played. However, just as he landed a knockout shot on the previous Happy possession, Dempsey landed the final blow by recovering the Mustangs onside kick to seal the victory.
This game set up to be a great matchup between two squads who love to run the ball to set up the pass and that was on full display all night long at Mustang Stadium. Happy took early momentum by recovering the opening onside kick and scoring on their first play from scrimmage. Dempsey found ample running room off the left side of the line for an easy 43-yard jaunt to pay dirt and early 8-0 lead for the Cowboys.
After a Jett Godfrey to Brady Shelton 46-yard scoring pass, the teams exchanged scores for most of the half and found themselves tied at 28 with 59 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
With the final seconds eroding away before the first half buzzer, Kreid Cluck connected with his center, Hayes Wyatt, on a four-yard pass and a 36-28 Happy lead.
The Cowboys then double dipped as they scored first in the third on Cluck’s second scoring toss of the night, this one for 28 yards to, who else, Dempsey to extend the lead to 44-28. Moments later, Trapper Godfrey outraced the Cowboys defense to the endzone from 40-yards out to cut the deficit for Claude to 44-34 with just over six minutes to in the third.
With district action right around the corner, the win for the Cowboys, may be a turning point.
“Wins like these are huge” noted Perryman. “These are huge momentum builders, and this type of win is a good indication that you are playing football well at the right time”.
Dempsey finished the night with 192 yards on the ground and three scores and both of his pass receptions, covering 53 yards, found the end zone. Cluck was effective through the air going 8 of-16 for 107 yards and three scores.
The Mustangs Trapper Godfrey and Slack combined for four rushing touchdowns while Jett Godfrey had those two scoring tosses in the loss.
Photo gallery by Roy Wheeler:
