Middleton, Fla. — The Villages High School football team was kept off the scoreboard for the second time in as many home games this season on Friday night, suffering a 41-0 homecoming loss to Mitchell (New Port Richey) at The Range at H.G. Morse Stadium.
The Buffalo (1-5) were turned away without points on three separate trips into Mitchell territory, while the visiting Mustangs (4-3) gashed the VHS defense on the ground throughout the lopsided affair.
"I just hate it for our kids," said VHS head coach
Richard Pettus. "They're all working so hard — our coaches included — and I just feel for them. But we can't hang our head, we've got to get back to the drawing board and figure out what we need to fix."
Mitchell opened the scoring with a 10-yard touchdown run off the left side by Corey Simms, giving the visitors a 7-0 lead through one quarter of play.
The Mustangs extended their lead to 13-0 on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Cayden Thomas to Bryce Backus early in the second quarter, taking advantage of a poor VHS punt that put them in good field position.
After being forced to punt on its first three possessions, the VHS offense fumbled on its first trip into plus-territory midway through the second quarter. A bad handoff between quarterback
Patrick Harding and fullback
Maleek Williams resulted in the giveaway near the 35-yard line, with Mitchell cashing in just three plays later on a 24-yard touchdown run by Simms for a 20-0 advantage.
On the ensuing Mustangs possession, Simms dinged the Buffalo defense once again, as the shifty tailback received a direct snap and sprinted ahead 50 yards untouched into the end zone for a 27-0 lead. That gap held up as the two teams trotted into the halftime locker room, after the VHS offense was turned away on fourth down at the Mitchell 21-yard line late in the second quarter.
"We've really got to do a better job sustaining some drives and ending them with points," Pettus said. "We did better as far as not turning the ball over tonight, but we're just not finishing drives and making the plays that we need to, so that we can put points up on the board."
An eight-play scoring drive to open the second half extended the Mitchell lead to 34-0, as Thomas zipped a pass toward the sideline to Jake Malvar, who turned upfield and scored from 18 yards out on third-and-long.
The Buffalo offense was again turned away after a 10-play drive saw them creep inside the Mitchell 15-yard line, but a fourth-down sack thwarted the juiciest scoring opportunity of the night for VHS.
It took all of one play for Mitchell to deliver its final haymaker with 3:48 to play in the third quarter, as Simms collected a toss and weaved his way through four Buffalo defenders en route to a 70-yard touchdown run — good for the night's final margin of 41-0.
"Mitchell is a good football team and that's where we're trying to get, that's what we're trying to become right there," Pettus said. "We've got to keep coaching as coaches and our kids have to keep working hard as players, and they will — I know they will — these kids won't ever quit."
The Buffalo return to action at 7 p.m. next Friday night, when VHS hosts Mount Dora in a Class 2S-District 10 matchup from The Range at H.G. Morse Stadium.
Cody Hills can be reached for questions or comment at cody.hills@tvcs.org or by calling (352) 259-6890.
