Mason kicked off its first season game with a different approach than most Mustang games. Head coach Tom Horn had to make many adjustments in the game to try to even out the playing field. Many fans viewed the final score as not representing the way the game was played. Broad Run, a AA school, had a significant size advantage over Mason, a single A school. When you compete with players that are twice your height and size it is hard to set up an offense to get around such a factor and many times Mason struggled to gain those much needed yards in the running game and started looking to the passing game. Mason many times drove the ball within the red zone thanks to junior Eric blush, who completed three of his 10 passes for 51 yards. Coach Horn had to make some adjustments and came up with a passing scheme to get Mason those yards they needed.

What made the passing game so successful were Mason’s receivers. Junior Travis Greene had one reception for 31 yards and junior Greg Curtain had a catch for 12 yards. During the second quarter of the game, number 24 John Swangle had a diving catch into the end zone. He caught the ball in midair, but the referee ruled that the ball was dropped on contact with the ground and was an incomplete pass. An already boisterous crowd suddenly became a whole lot louder with the ref’s call.

Not only did the Mustang offense put up a strong fight, but it was the defense that really prevailed against this better team. With a whole set of new plays this year, the Mustangs’ defense seemed to hold up this much bigger team like a wall; Each player acting as a brick to stop the Spartan team. Sophomore Eddie Huber led the Mustang defense with eight tackles and junior Travis Greene had an interception, which stopped the Spartan drive and which later led Mason to drive the ball to Broad Run’s 4 yard line in the second half.

During halftime you could hear the distant sound of the marching band coming up the hill to play on the field, as the Mustang players marched off the field. Horn did not lose his head during the game and gave the players words of encouragement during halftime, letting them know what needed to be done in order to achieve their goals in the second half. His words must have had some impact on the players, being that the defense only let up one touchdown in the second half. Senior Paul Stroup, captain of the defense, led his team and helped shutdown the Spartans in the second half. Unfortunately the exasperated offense was not able to respond to their defense getting Broad Run to turn over the ball.