The Overton Mustangs spoiled the atmosphere of the football season-opener at Panther Stadium Friday by handing the Panthers a 45-0 loss. The Mustangs looked much like the playoff team that they were one year ago as they dominated play throughout. 

Overton scored on seven of their ten possessions, amassing 369 yards of offense. The Mustangs capitalized on the speed, strength and open-field vision of halfback Gabriel Miller, who ran amok. They also leveraged big plays in the passing game, scoring on a flag route, a wide-receiver screen and a hitch-and-go. 

Overton presented some serious physical match-up challenges for Alba-Golden. The Mustangs enjoyed a huge advantage in the size of the offensive and defensive lines, which presented problems for the Panthers throughout the game. 

Alba-Golden’s best production in the opening half came in their second possession. Quarterback Sam Olson connected with receivers Brett Sutton, Cooper Christian and Alex Pfingsten in a smartly-executed short passing game which balanced tough runs through the middle by Mason Smith. The drive stalled near midfield.

Just before the half, the Panthers hit a deep go-route down the left side of the formation. Olson threw a beautiful pass and Christian made a great cut inside of the defender to collect the pass. The play went for 32 yards. A harassing Mustangs pass rush killed the drive. 

The Panthers went in to the half trailing 32-0.

Alba-Golden came out with renewed vigor for the second half. They took the opening kick-off and drove to the Overton 34-yard line before turning the ball over on downs. Quarterback Olson made a heads-up play on the drive, when he picked up a loose ball in the backfield and sprinted through the right side for a 27-yard gain.

After stopping the Alba-Golden drive, the Mustangs began to march downfield but against a much more aggressive Panther defense. Layton Williams remained a stalwart up front as Carter Mason and Hunter Hoffman attacked the Mustangs ballcarriers with abandon.

On a third down from the Panther 39-yard line, the Mustangs went for the end zone with a deep post pattern. Sutton read the play from his safety position, broke on the pass and corralled it for an interception. 

Despite the late-game efforts, the Mustangs went on to score twice again, and the Panthers were yet seeking the end zone. 

Alba-Golden will travel to Rusk County on Thursday to face the Mt Enterprise Wildcats.  Mt. Enterprise defeated Price-Carlisle, 32-24, in their season-opener.