It was rainy once again in North Texas as the afootballaddict team headed over to Garland, Texas for our first match-up of the week. Garland High School welcomes the Sachse High School Mustangs to HBJ Stadium for a 6A Region II match up. Sachse High School is led by three-star quarterback, and Virginia Tech commit, Alex Orji. On the other side of the ball the Garland Owls feature two of the best players in Texas, Jordan Hudson and Chace Biddle, both committed to SMU.
Garland would kick the ball off to the Mustangs to get the afternoon started. Alex Orji marched Sachse inside the 10-yard line but a fumbled snap would negate that momentum. Luckily for the Mustangs, Garland was unable to get anything going during their first drive either.
Orji would quickly get the Mustangs back into the red zone. Orji helped Sachse get to the one-yard line with a powerful run after rolling out the pocket. On the very next play Orji would punch in the one-yard touchdown to take a 7-0 lead with 7:21 left in the quarter.
Jayshon Powers helped the Owls out with a big return to set them up at the Sachse 45-yard line. A play later Cerigo Perez would connect with Ellis Rogers who would take it 28-yard to the endzone. Unfortunately Garland would have their extra point blocked giving Sachse a one-point lead. The Mustangs would act quick on extending that lead though. A few plays later Alex Orji connected with Camyrian Gladney on a huge reception to flip the field for the Mustangs. Orji would punch in his second rushing touchdown a few plays later to extend their lead.
Right before the end of the quarter Cergio Perez was able to bring the ball into Mustang territory while drawing a flag. Sachse’s defense would hold Garland from scoring but take over at their own one-yard line. Russell Reeves IV wouldn’t be able to get Sachse outside their own red zone, and the Mustangs were forced to punt.
Ellis Rogers once again took a quick pass from Perez to get the Owls offense moving. On the next play Perez would hit five-star wide receiver Jordan Hudson who juked his way into the endzone. Garland would make up for their blocked extra point and hit Eli Rogers for a successful two-point conversion. With 6:12 left in the half, the Owls suddenly tied the game 14-14.
The Owls defense would step up and change the momentum of the game on the next drive. Alex Orji’s pass would get intercepted by senior cornerback Christian Cooper at their own 46-yard line. Junior running back Keyunte King would break off a big run setting up Jordan Hudson’s second touchdown of the night. In impressive fashion Hudson went up to catch a fade route, and came down with a one handed touchdown.
Sachse’s offense would begin to sputter, and were forced to punt the ball rather quickly on the next drive. Three-star running back Jayshon Powers broke off a 28-yard run to help Garland get inside the 10-yard line. The Owls tried to punch the ball in with Powers but it would be Cergio Perez who would score the one-yard run to extend their lead. The Owls would fail to convert on their two point conversion, but still take a 28-14 lead over the Mustangs. With under two minutes left in the half Sachse would try to run their best two-minute drill they could. Alex Orji and the Mustangs were able to get into the redzone, and even get a pass off into the endzone but it was ruled incomplete.
Garland would receive the ball to start the second half, and get right back to work moving the ball down the field. Perez completed two quick passes to Jayshon Powers and Charles Allen which brought the ball to Sachse’s 36-yard line. The screen game had been working all night for Garland, and Ellis Rogers was a huge beneficiary of that. From just outside the red zone Rogers received a quick screen pass that he would take all the way to the crib for his second touchdown of the night. Multiple flags would kill the Owls attempt at a two-point conversion, but Garland still carried all the momentum.
The Mustangs would not go down without a fight though. Down 34-14 Sachse was able to effectively move the ball down the field once more. Lots of run plays, and a nice completion from Camyrian Gladney, and all the sudden Sachse was at the goal line. Alex Orji punched in the ball for his third touchdown of the night and finally was able to respond to Garland’s 28 unanswered points.
Jordan Hudson’s big night would not be finished however. Cergio Perez would find him once again in the endzone to give Garland a 40-21 lead at the very end of the quarter. Alex Orji and the Sachse Mustangs would not give up but there was just nothing they could do to stop Hudson. He would put the final nail in the coffin of the Mustangs haul in a 75-yard touchdown pass with under nine-minutes left in the game.
With a final score of 54-41 it is no surprise that we had over 1,000 yards of total offense this game. Cergio Perez finished the night throwing for 323 yards and seven total touchdowns for Garland High School. Alex Orji finished with 399 total yards, six total touchdowns and two interceptions. Ellis Rogers hauled in nine catches for 151 yards and two scores himself. Jonathan Brown led the Owls with 11 total tackles, three tackles for a loss, and Keylan SMith also finished with 11 total tackles.
It is really no surprise who the player of the game is. Jordan Hudson showed the nation why he is regarded as one of the best wide receivers in the Class of 2022. He finished the night with a dominating seven catches for 151-yards and four touchdowns. There was simply no answer for him tonight, and without a performance like that the Garland Owls wouldn’t be in the driver’s seat to a district championship like they are now.
Be sure to check out our other games covered during Week 8. We have special coverage in Houston this weekend for Cy-Park High School vs Bridgeland High School & Katy High School vs Cinco Ranch High School. Not to mention the Battle of Beltline between DeSoto High School and Cedar Hill High School.
