Cearns' breakout night propels Mustangs

By Neil H. Devlin, Mullen Sports Informaiton Director
Senior RB rushes, catches for 4 TDs, Mullen blitzes Doherty 44-17.
COLORADO SPRINGS -- Damien Cearns insists it’s not about him. No, it’s about his teammates.

However, when the gifted senior performs such as he did on Thursday night, he certainly has something significant to do with it.

The senior scored four touchdowns to lead Mullen to a rousing 44-17 victory over host Doherty in Class 5A nonleague play at Garry Berry Stadium.

And it was the way Cearns did it that drew attention -- it was as if the running back had a good month on Thursday.

On the third play of the game, he took a swing pass from Kyle Remington and cruised through the Spartans defense for an 84-yard catch-and-run touchdown. On the second play of the second quarter, he scored on a 79-yard run. On Mullen’s second snap in the third quarter, he snagged a screen pass and motored 83 yards for a third TD. And not to be outdone, late in the third, Cearns scored from 3 yards.
Unofficially, and do the math -- Cearns turned in 171 yards rushing and 167 yards receiving, and all of it was done through heavy traffic, just like the
situation for most Mullen followers who made the drive down and back on Interstate-25.

“The kid is incredible,” Mustangs head coach Stanley Richardson said as his team moved to 2-0. “He makes a lot of plays when he has nothing. He makes something of it. We try to use him in different ways. He can catch it and he can run with it. He’s a well-rounded athlete.”

All Cearns said he’s trying to do “is to stay humble and help the team. I have to thank the (offensive line). I need them and I’m so proud of them.”
Quarterback Kyle Remington threw three scoring passes, including one to Ryan Hearty. They were all short tosses that turned into longer scores and Remington doesn’t care.

“It’s all Damien,” he said. “The pass to him, that’s all him. I give it to him, and he does his thing. The best play is a 10-yard pass or 5-yard pass and seeing my guys doing their things. I love it.”

It wasn’t all rosy for the Mustangs, notably in the first half. Indeed, they led 13-0 on Hearty’s 40-yard TD, but Doherty, which was blasted the previous week by Cherry Creek, certainly hung around, staying within 19-14 heading into the second half. Plus, the Mullen defense got pushed around a bit by the ground-oriented Spartans, too much for Richardson to take, along with some missed offensive chances.

So taking control in the second half was urgent.

“Absolutely, that was the message in the locker at halftime – we wanted to finish,” the coach said. “We felt like we left some plays on the field in the first half and we wanted to finish. In the second half, we were able to do it.”

Said Cearns: “There’s no reason for us to start slowly.”

Richardson also cited significant improvement up front on offense -- “I believe we only had one penalty there,” he said – and the fact that the Mustangs played waves of underclassmen.

Cherry Creek, the ever-present power, will be Mullen’s foe in its home opener in a week. The Mustangs are keenly aware and will be working on the matchup, but the immediate aftermath of Thursday’s effort was to be enjoyed.

“They played the way we taught them, our guys executed,” Richardson said. “The offense carried us today and the defense carried us last week.

“I’m super proud with what we’re doing to this point.”
 
MULLEN 44, DOHERTY 17
Mullen 19 0 22 3 -- 44
Doherty 7 7 0 3 -- 17

First quarter
Mullen – Damien Cearns 85 pass from Kyle Remington (Wilson Yee kick), 10:50.
Mullen – Ryan Hearty 40 pass from Remington (kick failed), 7:19.
Doherty – Brandon Becker 1 run (Daymond Hill kick), 4:42.
Mullen – Cearns 79 run (run failed), 1:09.

Second quarter
Doherty – Becker 1 run (Hill kick), 4:54.

Third quarter
Mullen – Cearns 84 pass from Remington (Yee kick), 8:07.
Mullen – Cearns 3 run (Yee kick), 3:50.
Mullen – C.J. Smith 45 run (Hearty run), 2:07.

Fourth quarter
Doherty – FG Hill 35, 8:33.
Mullen – FG Yee 19, 3:37.

STATISTICS
TEAMS
            Mullen Doherty
Total plays 65 81
Total yards 580 346
Passing yards 262 143
Rushing yards 318 203
First downs 19 21
3rd-down eff. 1-11 9% 5-15 33%
4th-down eff. 4-6 67% 2-4 67%
Turnovers 0 1
Fumbles lost 0 0
Interceptions thrown 0 1
Penalties-yds. 7-62 2-10
 
MULLEN INDIVIDUALS
Rushing – Cearns 19-173, 80 long, 2 TDs; Hearty 4-55, 17 long; Smith 2-51, 45 long, 1 TD; Krebs 8-35, 14 long; Remington 5-7, 6 long; Moore 1-0, Brouillette 1-minus-6;
Passing – Remington 7-15, 252 yards, 85 long, 3 TDs; Moore, 1-2, 10.
Receiving – Cearns 2-169, 85 long, 2 TDs; Hearty 1-40, 1 TD; Marcoux 2-26, 17 long; Brouillette 2-14, 10 long; Smith 1-13.
Tackles (T-A-S-TFL) – Heil 6-7-0-0; Hoskins-Mitchell 6-4-0-0; Keanaaina 5-8-0-2; Martinez 5-1-0-0; Riley-Combs 4-7-2-3; Ells 3-3-0-1; Kirking 3-7-0-0; Warren 2-10-0-0; Margeson 2-6-0-0; Difeo 1-9-0-1; Villanueba 1-2-0-0; Malone 1-2-0-0; Mitchell 1-0-0-0; Ojang 0-1-0-0.
Interceptions – Margeson.
Fumble recoveries – None.
Kickoff returns – Martinez 2-6, 12 long; Marcoux 1-15; Brouillette 1-0.
Punt returns – Marcoux 4-7, 25 long; Martinez 1-0.
Kicking – Yee 1 FG, 5 PATs, 8 points.
Punting – Yee 3-33.0, 1 inside 20, 43 long.
 
 
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