The Stanhope Elmore run game was unstoppable on Friday night.
The Mustangs rushed for nearly 400 yards as Stanhope Elmore beat Russell County, 24-21, in the AHSAA Class 6A, Region 2 opener. Junior running back Arthur McQueen rushed for two touchdowns, quarterback Jacob Bryant added one touchdown and freshman DeMarion Barnes had a big night as well.
“We were able to run the ball successfully all night long,” head coach Hunter Adams said. “Had we not had a couple of drives stalled by penalties and mental mistakes, I don’t know if they could have stopped the run game. I have to give credit to our offensive line blocking tonight.”
Stanhope Elmore (2-1, 1-0) dropped a close game last Friday night that everyone on the Mustangs’ roster believes they should have won, and they bounced back in a big way this week.
Stanhope started the game off hot and scored two quick touchdowns and a field goal.
The Mustangs blocked a punt and scored their first touchdown of the night after Orenthal Martin picked it up in the end zone. Following that, McQueen started his scoring on the ground. McQueen led the team with 150 rushing yards and three touchdowns a week ago, and did himself one better this week with another game over 100 yards and two more touchdowns.
“He’s playing big time football,” Adams said of McQueen. “He had another big touchdown from him that was about 80 yards after getting an 85-yard touchdown from him last week. We knew he was a big strong back but this long speed has been a welcome surprise that is really impressive.”
Stanhope added onto its first-half lead with a 34-yard field goal from Colby Beyer and took a two-possession lead into the break.
“His kick would have been good from 54 yards,” Adams said. “They iced him and called all three of their timeouts right before the half and it didn’t faze him. He did a great job and he was perfect again, 3-for-3, on extra points.”
Bryant added his rushing touchdown and Stanhope took a 24-14 lead late in the third quarter. Beat up and riddled with injuries in the secondary, Russell County began throwing the ball trying to catch up. The Warriors were able to connect on two touchdowns in the second half to cut the lead to three points, but Stanhope’s secondary came up big when it needed to.
Jermaine Ray intercepted a pass on the final Russell County drive to end the comeback attempt, and Stanhope Elmore walked out with a 1-0 record in region play.
“Jermaine is the ultimate program guy and it was an absolutely great moment for that kid,” Adams said.
Stanhope Elmore will take its bye week next week before returning home to host Montgomery Carver on Friday, Sept. 22.
