Published: November 20, 2009 12:55 am      

Mustangs still not satisfied

MICHIGANTOWN, Ind. — Last week, the Fountain Central Mustangs did something that had only happened one other time in program history.

Under the direction of head coach Rick Malone on both occasions, the Mustangs won their first football regional championship since 1983.

But the reaction was similar to the previous week’s celebration when the team won the sectional title with a 39-0 shutout of Wabash River Conference rival Rockville.

And it was likely the same as each win throughout the 2009 regular season campaign.

The Mustangs (13-0) are simply not satisfied.

“The kids were excited about (the regional title), but after about two or three minutes of it, it was, ‘let’s get ready for semi-state.’ It was, ‘let’s get back to business,’ ” Malone said. “We’ve got higher goals and that’s pretty much their attitude right now. They’ll get the little plate for the trophy and move on.”

Avoiding complacency is what the Mustangs have strived for all season, and a frequent reminder of last season’s 3-7 campaign is perhaps what is keeping the expectations high.

Senior linebacker and fullback Sam Shoaf made it clear that Fountain Central wouldn’t suffer the same woes in back-to-back seasons by simply saying the effort was “unacceptable.”

With one goal in mind entering tonight’s semi-state contest, Shoaf is again keeping the message simple with three words: “Eight more quarters.”

The first four of the eight will come tonight against the Clinton Central Bulldogs (9-4) who are coming off of the program’s first-ever regional title game win, and a second-place finish in the Hoosier Heartland Conference to perennial power Lafayette Central Catholic (13-0).

The winner of tonight’s matchup will advance to the Class A state championship to face the winner of Central Catholic and Southern Wells (11-2).

“They’re very good defensively,” Malone said of the Bulldogs. “They run a 4-3 defense. They’ll give you a couple of different coverages. They’re very aggressive. They’ll fly to the ball.

“We haven’t seen a lot of 4-3 this year. We do know that they’ll make adjustments. Coach (Mike) Quick is a great coach and he’s going to make adjustments so we’ve got to be ready for those adjustments.”

In Clinton Central’s 14-0 regional championship win over Indianapolis Lutheran, the Bulldogs’ defense picked off four passes in the second half to help secure the win.

Fountain Central quarterback Scott Moore has thrown only seven interceptions in 134 attempts this season and doesn’t plan on adding to that total any time soon.

A balanced offensive attack has kept Mustangs’ opponents honest, and the ability to make adjustments throughout the game is a large part of what has led to much of their success.

“With their good defense, we’ll just take whatever they give us,” Shoaf said. “We’ll just execute what we can. Whatever their defense shows, we’ll take advantage of with our offense.”

Through 13 games, the Mustangs have averaged 42.8 points per game and have been held under 28 points only twice.

Most of that scoring has been done in the first 24 minutes as Fountain Central has outscored its opponents 423-35 in the first half behind the play calling of offensive coordinator Brad Smith.

Those same numbers give credit to a defensive attack that has limited the opposition to less than three yards per play and under eight points a game.

But that by no means has the Mustangs looking past this week’s opponent.

All they are worried about is continuing to do what has helped them to their best season in over a decade.

“We’ve just got play our game and play how we are capable of playing,” senior lineman Coy Knecht said. “We’ve got to play hard. One of our mottos this year, and we’ve stuck to it, is we’ve got to play as a family. We all play as one. If we do that, we should do pretty good.”

Kickoff at Clinton Central High School is set for 7 p.m. EST.