SPRING MILLS — Another week of high school football is gone, though there were similar notes to Spring Mills’ win over cross-county rival Musselman to their previous three wins. Mostly, though, it was another shutout, as the Cardinals handed the Applemen their fourth consecutive loss, 62-0. The Cardinals (4-0) have yet to give up a single point on defense, something head coach Marcus Law quickly used to highlight his coordinator, Buddy Hesen.
“This group here, it started last year with them buying into what coach Hesen was saying,” Law began. “The seniors like Keyon Mills, the Prophets (Guillaume), the Xays (Xavier Anderson), they’ve bought in even more and they push each other, hold each other accountable. What you see is 11 guys flying to the ball relentlessly trying to get that guy.
That’s been the biggest thing for us.” Even though it was a lopsided victory, the Cardinals didn’t start clean, immediately supplying the Applemen with multiple yards on two quick penalties on their first drive of the game. Law points to nerves, noting that the air of the rivalry and excitement surrounding the unveiling of the team’s brand-new blackout uniforms had some of the players more jumpy than usual.
“I would give (the sloppiest start) to last week,” Law said of the win over South Hagerstown (Md.). “I thought we did a good job coming in Monday talking about the mistakes we made, and we cleaned it up better today.
I thought the start had the same beginning as last week, but they responded well and cleaned things up. But we’ll go back and watch film where we’ll say, ‘Really, guys?’ but there’s always room for improvement.” On the other side of the ball, Max Anderson shined once more in the pocket, picking up four passing touchdowns — two to Keyon Mills and two to Xavier Anderson — and former Applemen running back Blake Sanders picked up two rushing scores in the third quarter, but it was Mills who truly shined, marking his best game of the season with one receiving touchdown and one punt return for a score.
He also had a forced fumble. “Even back to when he was a freshman, he was a kid I got to watch grow in the program,” Law said. “Even then, he had flashes like (tonight) where we knew it was there, but now I’d put him up there with the Maxes of the world.
His communication, his leadership, has been that other piece we’ve needed. My hat’s off to him; my kids love watching him, it’s been fun watching him develop into who he is,” “He’s more confident — he believes. He believes in those guys in front of him, and the weight room helps.
” When asked about his stellar performance, Mills said it feels good seeing all the work pay off that he and his teammates have put in. “Over the summer, I worked on myself in my off time,” he said, “but, yeah, I’d say this is my best game this year.” After his first touchdown of the game, Mills ran over to his quarterback on the sideline and told him, “I owed you one.
” Before that score, Mills had dropped what looked like a sure reception which would have put the Cardinals up 7-0 on their first play of the game. Not letting that drop affect him, Mills relayed that he just “focused on the next play.” “I want to make sure I’m good, but I more want to make sure my teammates are good (in those moments),” he said.
“Those are my brothers out there, and we’re on the same path. I don’t get in my head ..
. I think more of the team,” “I told him I owed him one because that was a beautiful ball. I couldn’t get in my head .
.. most people would get in their head.
It would have been a wild catch. But coach Hesen tells us all the time, ‘If something bad happens, get it out of your mind.’ Next play, that’s all I was thinking.
Next play,” Musselman coach Brian Thomas isn't looking at the loss as a bad mark against his team. Rather, he sees his youth-laden squad as getting better every week in the face of adversity. “We’re disciplined and do things correctly,” he said.
“Outside looking in says, ‘You’re 0-4, the sky’s falling,’ but when we watch film, we do things well. We’re not a bad football team; we’re not deep right now and we’re learning stuff still. So we hang tough.
We ran out of gas and they’re a good football team,” “I’m proud of our kids. I love our locker room and the mindset in it. Anyone that says our kids aren’t fighting their butts off don’t know football.
Adversity builds character; the Bible talks about that. We’re going to get better each week.” Moving into a bye week, Thomas wants to see his team recuperate and refocus on the remainder of their season.
To him, his goals are to see his squad accomplish three things: rest, learn situational football and improve technique. “I think our biggest thing is that we have to get a bit healthier. We need rest, but we need to work on things.
A lot of our mess-ups are technique things,” he said. Up next, Spring Mills heads up I-81 to face North Hagerstown (Md.).
The Hubs (0-3) suffered a 28-12 loss to Thomas Johnson on Friday in Frederick, but have been competitive in their first two home games against Tuscarora (27-20) and Manchester Valley (14-13). Musselman's Eli Lasure transported to hospital after fainting on field In the fourth quarter, Musselman’s Eli Lasure suffered a fainting spell following a physical play and was attended by medical staff on the field. A stretcher was brought out, and, shortly after, an ambulance drove onto the turf to transport him to a local hospital.
According to Thomas, the junior had his vitals checked on the field and was actively talking to medical staff. Thomas noted that his heart seemed fine at that moment and that precaution took precedence. “I’m going to go to the hospital after this and check on him,” he said.
“He’s in good hands.” Law also commented on the situation, noting he wanted to ensure his players knew the severity of that situation once Lasure was safely off the field, speaking to his team in a small arc. The Cardinals were also led by a player in prayer asking for Lasure’s safety.
“When that happens, it’s not about football. That’s a young man; it’s someone’s son, grandson, who’s down and in a serious amount of pain,” Law said. “I thought the best thing we could do was get our kids on a knee because if that’s my kid hooked up, that’s about life and death.
We’re very blessed that we (both teams) had people on the sideline that jumped in and helped. I hope he has a full recovery, and I’ll definitely reach out to coach Thomas to see if there’s anything we can do to help. Our prayers go out to him.
”.
