Madisonville Mustangs Football 2016

Coaching Change Looks To Spur Mustangs

By Chris Boothe

Messenger Sports

MADISONVILLE – The Madisonville Mustangs made one of the biggest coaching splashes, not only in the area, but across the state of Texas. After seeing the resignation of Greg Morgan, who had spent 16 years as Head Coach/Athletic Director for the Mustangs, Madisonville made the move to hire one of the biggest names in the business.

On December 2, the Madisonville School Board approved the hiring of Rusty Nail. Nail had spent the 2015 season working in private business, but prior to that he had a very successful run with the Mart Panthers. In eight seasons at the helm, Nail went 105-23 with two state titles. Madisonville isn’t a foreign land either to Nail, who served as an assistant on the Mustangs staff from 1992-1997.

2015 wasn’t kind to the Mustangs, as they finished the year 1-9, with their lone victory a 43-41 barnburner over Caldwell.

Fortunately for Nail and the Mustangs, the majority of the roster returns with a year of experience, and a full offseason in the weight room. Madisonville returns their quarterback, two of their top four leading rushers, and their top receiver offensively. That should give a nice padding for a Mustang offense that averaged almost 300 yards a game last season.

Of those returners, quarterback Ben Phillips (Junior), looks to play a huge role in what the Mustangs offense does. As a sophomore, Phillips completed 50 percent of his passes for 1778 yards with 11 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Look for a surge as Phillips has another offseason to grow and work with the skilled players in the lineup.

As for other skilled players, one marquee name that the Mustang faithful have to look forward to is junior running back Johnny Simpson. Simpson rushed for just 406 yards last year, but averaged 7.5 yards per carry and finished second on the team with six rushing touchdowns.

Joining Simpson in the backfield will be a handful of backs that saw playing time including senior Gabriel Smith (215 yards, 4 touchdowns), Corey Craft (179 yards, 3 touchdowns), and Jaroid Washington (71 yards, 1 touchdown). With the depth in the backfield, the Mustangs look to have the ability to rotate fresh bodies and keep opposing defenses gasping for air.

On top of being a stud rusher, Simpson was also the Mustangs leading receiver a year ago with 31 catches for 526 yards and three touchdowns. It will be that versatility that makes Simpson one of the most dangerous receivers. Unfortunately, receiver is one position that the Mustangs were decimated by graduation. The next leading receiver for Madisonville is senior Isaiah Berry with four catches for 94 yards.

Kasey Williamson got reps at wide receiver, along with Kendall Moffett, as now those two will be expected to step up big in 2016.

On top of playing a role offensively, Washington will also be a leader defensively, as the junior is the leading returning tackler with 61 last season. Senior Darren Blakely is the second leading tackler returning with 46 tackles. Those two, along with juniors Cornelius Merchant and Dylan Hoffman should provide a strong backbone for a Mustang defense that struggled at times in 2015. Improvement shouldn’t be hard as the Mustangs gave up 43.5 points per game, and allowed under 30 points only once all season (28-21 loss to Diboll).

As for their schedule, the Mustangs have even mix of teams in non-district play. After opening the season at Diboll, Madisonville will host an improving Woodville squad. Madisonville will then travel to Caldwell before hosting Crockett, traveling to face Lorena, and ending non-district at home against Rusk.

District play will include showdowns against Shepherd, Brookshire Royal, Bellville, and Tarkington. With less room for error, there will be no off weeks in district play when aiming to reach the playoffs. Bellville enters the season as an early favorite with a high ranking, but the race from there is on.

With the returning players, the Mustangs have the pieces in place to quickly improve upon last season’s 1-9 mark and make the playoffs in 2016. Of course, how far the Mustangs go will depend on the growth defensively and how the line holds up throughout the season.

Overall there are good things coming for the Mustangs. While the breakout season may not be this season, a playoff spot is in the cards. Prediction: 6-4.