Behind senior quarterback Xavier Geter, Midland Valley registered a 42-7 win over Lakeside at the Panthers’ stadium on Friday night, Aug. 28.
Geter accounted for three touchdowns and 189 yards passing to lead a dominant Mustang effort that totaled 427 yards of offense. Geter added 43 yards rushing. He passed for two TDs and ran for one.
It had been a tight affair in the first half, but the visitors took control in the second half. The Mustangs (2-0) only held a 14-7 lead at the half, but they used a stout defense, Geter’s handiwork and an excellent kicking game to take control in the third quarter.
Jason Gutierrez nailed a 54-yard punt for Midland Valley with 7:31 left in the third quarter that began the onslaught. That put the ball at the Lakeside 1-yard line. After a Panthers four-and-out without gaining a single yard, the Mustangs took just four plays to score. Geter hit Kaleb Hester with an 18-yard pass before Geter went the last yard for the touchdown. Jason Larios added the PAT for a 21-7 Midland Valley lead.
Geter continued his dominance with another drive after another Lakeside four-and-out—this march going for 66 yards. The key play was Geter’ 24-yard pass to Hester, and then Terrance Smith went in from the 1-yard line. Larios added the PAT for a 28-7 Mustang lead.
The Mustang QB kept the beat going and made it 35-7 with a nifty 21-yard pass to Cameron Gleaton down the middle with 9:12 left in the game. Again, Larios added the PAT kick.
Dallas Dundy added a late 88-yard touchdown run for the Mustangs, and Larios’ PAT ended the scoring with his point after.
“We had to change our energy in the locker room after warmups, and we got it up from there,” Geter said.
Indeed, Midland Valley coach Brent Dorn was not very happy with how his team went through pre-game drills.
“I knew Lakeside would come out with everything they had; I knew they would play hard,” Dorn said. “We came out sluggish in warmups, so we had a to have a little pregame speech in there. Yeah, warmups were bad, and all of that. When were are not in our on way, we are a great football team. We just got in our way. I knew Lakeside would come out and fight hard. Coach (Brett) Johnson does a great job over there.”
The feisty Panthers (0-2) had kept the game close in the first half. After a scoreless first quarter, the Panthers got on the board first when they drove 48 yards in 11 plays after a 24-yard punt by Larios only got off a 24-yard punt—his only poor kick on the evening. Lakeside nickle-and-dimed its way down the field, and quarterback Ben Herrington had a nice seven-yard scramble on third down to set up fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line.
From there, Brice Swailes went up the middle for the touchdown. Lawson Springs added the PAT kick for a 7-0 Panther lead with 9:55 left in the half.
However, Midland Valley, speeding its offense up a bit, countered with two scores before halftime to assume the lead. Geter engineered a 12-play, 80-drive for the Mustangs. Larios added the PAT to tie the score at 7-7 with 4:11 before intermission.
Lakeside was forced to punt, and Geter led Midland Valley on a quick 44-yard drive that only four plays. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound quarterback hit Gleaton on a 25-yard pass to put the ball at the 7-yard line, and then Geter ran to the left and scored from there. Larios added the extra point for a 14-7 Mustang lead at the half.
In that opening half, the Panthers held Mustang junior running back Preston Smith in check for the most part. He had only 39 yards on 11 attempts after going for 180 yards and four touchdowns the previous week in their 49-42 win over Lexington. Overall, in the first 24 minutes, the visitors outgained Lakeside 169 to 65 yards.
Robbie Russell and Andrew Cowart were bright spots for the Panthers. Russell had 63 yards rushing, and Cowart had 41 for the hosts.
Smith did finish with 89 yards on 19 carries for the Mustangs. It could have been a lot more because he had what appeared to be a 58-yard touchdown scamper in the third quarter, but that run was called back on a holding penalty by a teammate.
Dundy, getting his chance in the fourth quarter, led Midland Valley with 111 yards. His 88-yard touchdown was part of a 99-yard drive that ended the night’s scoring.
Still, this was Geter’s night, and his coach was proud of his senior signal-caller.
“He’s a heckuva talent,” Dorn observed. “He works at everything. He is constantly in the film room and is constantly asking questions. He’s done a great job the last two weeks. When he’s walking off the field, he says, ‘This is what I am seeing. This is what they’re giving us.’ He’s done a great job with that, and he he just continues to take his game to the next level.”
Next week (Sept. 4), Lakeside will host Evans, and Midland Valley play A.C. Flora.
(Note: A version of this story appeared in Augusta Good News.)
Contact Anna Biondolillo at abiondolillo@augusta.edu.
