The West Orange-Stark Mustangs will venture away from home to challenge the Tarkington Longhorns at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (West Orange-Stark has three straight wins, Tarkington has 16 straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
While West Orange-Stark's victory against Silsbee wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. The Mustangs skirted past the Tigers 33-30. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Mustangs have posted against the Tigers since October 12, 2018.
Khelvy Jefferson
| 10/24/25 vs Silsbee | 4 |
| 09/27/24 vs Almeta Crawford | 3 |
| 09/20/24 vs Episcopal | 3 |
| 10/18/24 vs Shepherd | 2 |
| 09/13/24 @ La Vega | 2 |
Khelvy Jefferson went supernova, rushing for 272 yards and four scores while picking up 12.4 yards per carry. Those four rushing touchdowns gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Kwalin Dugas, who rushed for 53 yards and one touchdown on only six carries.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: West Orange-Stark was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 325 rushing yards. They rushed for 113 more rushing yards than Silsbee's also-impressive total of 212.
Meanwhile, Friday just wasn't the day for Tarkington's offense. They were beaten by Hamshire-Fannett 65-0 on Friday. While losing is never fun, Tarkington can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 1026th, while Hamshire-Fannett is ranked 227th).
West Orange-Stark's victory bumped their record up to 5-3. As for Tarkington, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-8.
Everything came up roses for West Orange-Stark against Tarkington in their previous meeting back in November of 2024, as the team secured a 55-7 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Mustangs since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
