Two Up and Two Go Down, North Shore Outlasts Crowley 28-13, Mustangs 2-0 vs DFW Teams This Season

Photo Cred: Greg Powers Dave Campbells Texas Magazine

Written By: Jay Pace

In it’s first two contests of a still very young 2024 high school football season, Houston area 6A power, Galena Park North Shore has faced a pair of teams from the DFW Metroplex to begin its season. It's been two up and two down, as the Mustangs have taken care of business to began the season 2-0.

Last week, the Mustangs bludgeoned 5A power, South Oak Cliff into submission with a 38-0 message sending win. Last night’s closer than it should’ve been 28-13 win over Crowley was more like a cautionary tale.  

For all their offensive firepower and for all their defensive prowess, the Mustangs clearly have plenty of work to do if a UIL 6A title is part of their plan in 2024. 

Yes, they made the long trek north to face a game Crowley squad on its home field. And yes, despite a less than stellar performance, they managed to win the game and move to 2-0. Going on the road and getting a win is no easy task.  

Give Willie Gaston’s team credit. They came. They saw. They conquered. They also committed five turnovers and failed to put a lesser team away. Last nights miscues didn’t cost the Mustangs a game. Moving forward, if not corrected, it could cost them a season. 

Second year head coach Willie Gaston agreed. “We've got to clean some things up. I feel like we were trying to force the ball a couple of times instead of pulling it down and throwing it away.” He continued. “But those are things you can correct while watching film and teaching. There are always plenty of teachable moments out there. So we have some good film to watch and some things to clean up.  

The night started out well enough as North Shore scored in just four plays on their opening possession to take an early 7-0 lead. The Mustangs defense, a formidable unit led by All-American defensive back Devin Sanchez, did it's part by forcing a three and out on Crowley's opening possession and returning the ball to its offense in short order. 

The Mustangs offense was again on the move, picking up a couple of quick first downs before senior quarterback Kaleb Bailey’s pass was picked off by Crowley's junior defensive back Brandon Ford.  

The miscue by Bailey led to Crowley’s first points of the evening as the Eagles eventually tied things up after scoring on a double reverse touchdown pass from wide receiver Derrick Tasby to quarterback Caleb Williams to make it 7-7 with 2:37 left in the first quarter. 

After an exchange of punts, North Shore running back Chris Thomas broke the tie with a 38-yard touchdown run, putting his team back on top 14-7 with 6:43 remaining in the first half. Thomas's run seemed to provide a spark to a high powered Mustang offense that had lost a bit of it's rhythm after an early touchdown run by De’Andre Hardeman Jr. on the Mustangs opening possession. 

However, that momentum was quickly erased as Crowley snuffed out a pair of scoring opportunities, intercepting Bailey and his backup Kaleb Maryland to keep things close going into the half. 

Despite great starting field position for North Shore throughout the first half, the Mustangs had just 14 points to show offensively. Of their five first half possessions, the Mustangs worst starting field position began at their own 45. 

The second half proved to be a much different story. With 8:33 remaining in the third quarter, Bailey hit junior wide receiver Kendrick De’Blanc on a short pass in the flats that went for a touchdown to extend North Shore's lead to double digits at 21-7.  Two minutes later, Bailey gashed a tired Crowley defense on a yet another long touchdown pass to extend its lead to 28-7. 

Crowley added a late touchdown to put the final margin at 28-13. Both schools return to the field next week as Crowley (1-1) takes on Skyline on Thursday night, while Galena Park North Shore (2-0) returns home to face Westfield.