Mustangs Pass First Test Under McGehee With Second-Half Outburst Against Brenham

MAGNOLIA — In his first year at the helm for Magnolia West football, Ben McGehee wants to see his Mustangs wear out their opponents in the second halves of games.

In his debut, it was mission accomplished. Magnolia West scored 28 straight points in the second half and cruised to a 45-21 victory over Brenham in their season opener Friday at Mustang Stadium.

“We’re going to be a second-half team,” McGehee said. “We bank on being in better shape than everybody and trying to be more physical. I thought we did both of those things tonight. I thought we were a little better conditioned, and I thought we wore them out a little in the second half. That’s what we want to build on.”

After Brenham quarterback Steven Stackhouse plunged in for a 2-yard touchdown to give the Cubs (0-1) a 21-17 lead early in the third quarter, Magnolia West (1-0) quickly regained control. The Mustangs did it first through the air, courtesy of a pair of touchdown passes from senior quarterback Brock Dalton, and then slammed the door with a heavy run game led by senior Hunter Bilbo and junior Kai Aroca-Disdier in the fourth quarter.

Dalton hit Daniel Horn and Trey Leggett for a pair of 14-yard touchdown passes within the span of two minutes to quickly turn the deficit into a 31-21 lead late in the third quarter. Dalton was sharp on both drives, completing 4 of 5 pass attempts for 67 yards and the two scores. He finished with 179 yards on 13-of-21 passing with four touchdowns and just one interception

“We got on the same page at halftime with the calls we were making and what we wanted from [Dalton],” McGehee said. “I thought he executed really well in the second half.”

Bilbo and Aroca-Disdier did the rest, overwhelming the Brenham defense in the fourth quarter. Bilbo’s was an 81-yard rumble in which he broke several tackles on the way into the end zone. Aroca-Disdier took over on the next drive, taking four straight carries for 50 yards, capped by an 18-yard scoring run to make it 45-21 with 7:06 left in the game.

On his 81-yard score, Bilbo broke into the open field and initially appeared to have a clear path. Brenham’s Eric Hemphill, the Class 5A boys 400 meters silver medalist, cut off his path around the 20-yard line, but Bilbo made a timely cut and broke a few tackles from behind to finish the run in the end zone.

“As soon as I saw Eric Hemphill, I knew I had to do some sort of move that I’ve been practicing with the coaches,” Bilbo said. “I just knew I had to keep my feet going, and it paid off with that 81-yard touchdown run.”

Bilbo had 12 carries for 179 yards, while Aroca-Disdier rushed for 99 yards on five carries. Leggett was the leading receiver with five catches for 74 yards and a pair of scores.

During the offensive outburst, the Mustangs held Brenham to just two first downs over four possessions and did a solid job limiting Stackhouse after he had a solid first half. Magnolia West limited the Cubs to 251 yards for the game.

When it seemed like Brenham had all the momentum after Kaden Watts intercepted Dalton late in the second quarter, the Mustangs capitalized on a key sequence to turn a 14-7 deficit into a 17-14 halftime lead.

Magnolia West pressured Stackhouse on consecutive plays for negative gains, then made a third-down stop to force a punt deep in Brenham territory. The Cubs snapped the attempt out of the end zone for a safety, cutting the lead to 14-9 and giving the Mustangs favorable field position. Magnolia West drove 49 yards in eight plays, capped by a 4-yard touchdown pass from Dalton to Trey Leggett with four seconds left. The pair connected on the ensuing 2-point conversion to give the Mustangs a 17-14 lead at halftime.

Brenham had taken a 14-7 lead in the second quarter when Stackhouse converted a fourth-and-7 with a 38-yard touchdown strike on a post pattern to Hemphill.

The Mustangs and Cubs traded touchdowns in the first quarter with Dalton finding Wade Nobles for a 5-yard score and Brenham answering back with a 1-yard scoring run from Ricky Brown.

Hemphill had three catches for 84 yards to lead Brenham.