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Mustangs look to regain momentum

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Mustangs look to regain momentum

Van Wade

The Orange Leader

WEST ORANGE — They had all the momentum of the world going their direction before Hurricane Ike came to town.

The West Orange-Stark Mustangs found themselves ranked No. 7 in the latest Class 3A state poll and were coming off two impressive blowout victories over Class 4A units Nederland and Little Cypress-Mauriceville to start the season.

School officially cranked up for the Mustangs Wednesday but many of them or still feeling devastation. Eight Mustangs lost their homes in the ordeal, including senior quarterback Ortavious Hypolite.

“Our apartment was totally flooded,†said Hypolite. “I was able to get some clothes out and a little bit of furniture but everything else was pretty much gone. I’ve got a tough family though and we’re going to fight through it.â€

The Mustangs held their first practice Wednesday since Sept. 10.

“We have some kids fired up and ready to go,†said long-time Mustang head coach Dan Hooks, who had plenty of water damage in his home as well in the Bridge City area. “We have several kids that lost a lot of their possessions and everyone is doing the best they can to make sure they’re being treated well and have the basic things that you need.â€

The Mustangs will have one final non-district game before District 21-3A cranks up Oct. 10 when they play host to the Silsbee Tigers. WO-S will welcome the Brookshire-Royal Falcons to Dan Hooks Stadium Friday, Sept. 3.

“We got a chance to see Brookshire-Royal play Sealy last week and they held their own pretty good against a good Sealy team,†said Hooks. “They have nice speed and should be a good game for us before district. God only knows, we need it.â€

The Mustang coaching staff is slowly getting the Mustangs adjusted to their practice schedule. About 85 percent of all varsity athletes were back in school Wednesday.

“The next three or four days, we’ll go at it a little bit slow so everyone can get their feet wet again,†Hooks said. “By next Monday, we’ll be back to a ful-board workout.â€

When Hurricane Rita blitzed through Orange in 2005, the Mustangs adjusted well. They rolled through 21-3A undefeated and advanced all the way to the Class 3A Division I state semifinals.

“That was a special season,†Hooks said. “We really went through a lot of turmoil during that period too and the kids really banded together and went far in the playoffs. It sure would be nice to duplicate that again.â€

Hypolite feels the Mustangs will be ready to turn things up a notch real fast.

“Sure, we lost some momentum after getting those two big wins to start the year,†said Hypolite. “It’ll be business as usual as soon as we get our conditioning back. By next week, I’m sure a lot of us will start having pent-up frustration because we haven’t played in so long. As long as we don’t take it too far and take it out each other, we’ll be fine. We’ll be ready for Brookshire-Royal and we can’t wait for district to start, we’re ready to defend our title again.â€

The Mustangs have won four straight 21-3A crowns and own a 24-game district winning streak.

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