Battle of the Mustangs

Editor’s note: Nixon-Smiley’s game against the Natalia Mustangs has been moved from its usual Friday slot to Thursday, Oct. 29 due to threat of inclement weather. Game will still take place at Nixon, with kickoff scheduled at 7:30 p.m.

NIXON — About 80 miles apart and with the same mascot, the Nixon-Smiley and Natalia football teams have not had much success this football season. Both Mustang teams sit at 0-3 in district and in desperate need of a win to try to sneak their way into postseason play. But if Natalia or Nixon-Smiley want to win their first district game of the year, their inexperienced players are going to have to play a bit more consistent Thursday night.

“Several players who play [for Natalia] hadn’t play on the varsity level before,” Nixon-Smiley head coach Carlton McKinney explained. “[It’s been] kind of a hit or miss deal.”

McKinney believes both teams have struggled this year because of the amount of sophomores having to start and the inconsistency of each team’s play.

“When you play young players, some games they get it [and] some games they don’t,” he said. “Their inconsistency shows.”

Natalia will be coming out of an all-out spread offense, with their mobile quarterback looking at reading the opposition’s defensive looks and reacting accordingly.

“Their scheme is a tempo one, it’s more feel than anything else,” McKinney scouted.

Nixon-Smiley will have to take care of their assignment-football type of defense to contain the opposing Mustangs.

As for Natalia’s defense, McKinney and his team will be facing against yet another split with some variations including putting a nose guard down or overloading a certain side to stop the run.

“[We] got to use our quickness more,” McKinney noted. With Natalia’s linemen outweighing Nixon-Smiley’s about 50 pounds per player, speed is definitely what the Mustangs will need to win this game.

With two games left in the season, McKinney believes his team is improving and hopefully they’ll get things right.

“They work fairly hard,” he explained, “it’s just understanding that everybody at this level works hard.”

As McKinney puts it, it’s the other aspects of football that the Mustangs have struggled in, such as holding on to the football and pre-snap penalties that have plagued them.

“When it gets difficult, we have to be more zoned in,” he said.

By the end of Thursday night, McKinney hopes his team is not only a better one than yesterday, but a team that still has a shot at making the playoffs.

The Mustangs take on Natalia at home on Thursday, with kickoff scheduled at 7:30 p.m.