Myers Park holds off South Meck, starts 4-0 for first time since 1983

None of these Myers Park Mustangs were born the last time the football program started a season with four straight wins.

This year’s squad matched the 1983 team with a 14-11 victory against South Mecklenburg Friday in which the Mustangs had to sweat through a late Sabres rally. South Meck had a chance to tie but missed a 43-yard field goal try with 40 seconds left, touching off a massive celebration on the field and the home side of Gus Purcell Stadium.

Myers Park had its share of heroes, starting with quarterback Jack Davidson, who passed for a touchdown and ran for another in amassing 215 yards total offense.

The defense limited South Mecklenburg’s diverse attack most of the way, especially defensive end Corey Mobley, whose key third-down stop late in the fourth quarter forced South Meck to try the failed field goal. South pulled within three points on Antonio Wallace’s 9-yard pass to Adam Ziegler with 7:57 to play.

Davidson, who completed 15 of 25 passes for 168 yards, added 47 yards rushing, including a 2-yard run to build a 14-3 advantage at halftime. He connected on 10-of-15 attempts for 111 yards in the first half with a 35-yard score to Saiq Patrick in the second quarter.

The Mustangs’ defense stymied South Mecklenburg early, forcing a fumble deep in Sabres’ territory that led to Davidson’s scoring run on fourth-and-goal.

Records: South Mecklenburg is 2-2. Myers Park is 4-0.

Worth mentioning: Myers Park had 162 yards in the first half, including 116 passing. ...The Mustangs’ defense limited South Mecklenburg to 61 yards in the first half and tallied three sacks. ... South Mecklenburg’s special teams came up big with blocked punts by Jake Lawler and Holden Parker. Lawler’s block set up Jonathan Doerer’s 30-yard field goal.

What’s next: South Mecklenburg travels to Harding. Myers Park has a road date at Sun Valley.

This story was originally published September 9, 2016 at 10:59 PM with the headline "Myers Park holds off South Meck, starts 4-0 for first time since 1983."