2008 Woodie Awards
Mustangs end season with victory
Michael Belasco
Issue date: 11/18/05 Section: Sports
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So this was it for the Delta College Mustangs' football season.
A season that was composed of disappointments, close game after close game, heartaches from defeat, migraines from growing pains this team would go through, and not to mention a 1-8 record, was going to on end on a breezy and cloudy Saturday afternoon on DeRicco Field.
The players easily could have put their heads down in shame of the season that would not live up to expectations people had grown to expect from recent teams. Their roster was young and injury depleted, which was shown in their painful fourth quarter losses, when the players seemed to let the game slip from their hands like bars of soap.
The time could not be seen on the score box, and time seemed as if it would run out on the Mustangs once again when the Mustangs blew their lead in the second half and trailed 34 - 27 to the Merced College Blue Devils.
But the team that showed up on the last Saturday afternoon for the 2005 season was one that showed their true grit and spirit.
And if the Blue Devils never heard the name Brandon Anson before the game, they probably would hope to forget his name after the game.
Mustang quarterback Abel Werner, starting in place of the injured Jeff Combie, threw one last pass into the corner of the end zone with less then 20 seconds remaining in the game, and it seemed as if momentarily time froze and a sound could not be heard in the quiet stadium.
The silence that seemed to last forever was broken by shouts and cheers as the players and fans erupted when Anson came down with the ball after making a falling, ridiculous, jaw-dropping and eye-popping, one-handed grab that would ensure a Mustang victory in their final game, 39-34 over the Blue Devils.
"I just thought to myself 'get the ball to the playmakers,' so I knew I had to get the ball into playmakers' hands," said Werner as he described the final moments of the game.
The final moments were heart racing and seemed like something that could only have been written up in a sports movie or fictional book. However, there was nothing fake about the victory the Mustangs pulled out by a huge team effort from the coaches and the players.
A season that was composed of disappointments, close game after close game, heartaches from defeat, migraines from growing pains this team would go through, and not to mention a 1-8 record, was going to on end on a breezy and cloudy Saturday afternoon on DeRicco Field.
The players easily could have put their heads down in shame of the season that would not live up to expectations people had grown to expect from recent teams. Their roster was young and injury depleted, which was shown in their painful fourth quarter losses, when the players seemed to let the game slip from their hands like bars of soap.
The time could not be seen on the score box, and time seemed as if it would run out on the Mustangs once again when the Mustangs blew their lead in the second half and trailed 34 - 27 to the Merced College Blue Devils.
But the team that showed up on the last Saturday afternoon for the 2005 season was one that showed their true grit and spirit.
And if the Blue Devils never heard the name Brandon Anson before the game, they probably would hope to forget his name after the game.
Mustang quarterback Abel Werner, starting in place of the injured Jeff Combie, threw one last pass into the corner of the end zone with less then 20 seconds remaining in the game, and it seemed as if momentarily time froze and a sound could not be heard in the quiet stadium.
The silence that seemed to last forever was broken by shouts and cheers as the players and fans erupted when Anson came down with the ball after making a falling, ridiculous, jaw-dropping and eye-popping, one-handed grab that would ensure a Mustang victory in their final game, 39-34 over the Blue Devils.
"I just thought to myself 'get the ball to the playmakers,' so I knew I had to get the ball into playmakers' hands," said Werner as he described the final moments of the game.
The final moments were heart racing and seemed like something that could only have been written up in a sports movie or fictional book. However, there was nothing fake about the victory the Mustangs pulled out by a huge team effort from the coaches and the players.