Defense sparks Myers Park in 55-7 playoff victory against Providence

Back in the early part of Myers Park’s 55-7 rout of Providence on Friday night – back before Drake Maye, Elijah Bowick and Moose Muhammad put on a stellar aerial show – the Mustangs’ defense set the tone.

The Mustangs won their first-round 4AA playoff game with 426 yards’ total offense and three long touchdown passes.

But in the early going, the Mustangs’ defense took control of the game with a pair of interceptions.

On its first series, Providence drove to the Myers Park 30. But Trey Bly stepped in front of a Panthers pass and dashed 75 yards for the game’s first touchdown. Later in the quarter, with the Mustangs up 14-0, Cameron Roseman-Sinclair intercepted a pass, returned it 33 yards and set up Myers Park’s third score.

By the end of the night, the Mustangs had intercepted five passes, recovered a fumble, and insured that Myers Park will get a rematch next Friday with the only team to beat the Mustangs this season – Butler. It will be the first game in nearly a month for the Bulldogs, who won their final two regular-season games by forfeit and then had a first-round playoff bye.

Once the defense got the Mustangs started, their offense found its stride on a cold night.

Maye fired scoring passes of 42 yards to Muhammad, and 20 and 58 yards to Bowick, a Virginia Tech commit. Maye also had a 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Logan Mauldin.

Records: Providence is 6-6; Myers Park is 11-1.

Three who mattered

Maye (Myers Park): Maye completed 13 of 22 passes for 315 yards, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. At least three of his first-half tosses were dropped by receivers.

Elijah Bowick (Myers Park): Bowick caught six passes for 146 yards. Bowick’s receptions included a brilliant one-handed catch on a 36-yard play in the third quarter.

Muhammad (Myers Park): He had four receptions for 151 yards and also had an interception on defense.

Worth mentioning

▪ Butler beat Myers Park 39-22 on Oct. 5. Last season, Butler beat the Mustangs 28-7 in the regular season but lost at home to Myers Park 28-24 in a second-round game.

▪ When it comes to Myers Park and Providence, not much has changed since early in the season. The Mustangs beat the Panthers 55-14 on Aug. 31.

▪ For the record, Myers Park defenders with interceptions were Trey Bly, Cameron Roseman-Sinclair, Muhammad, Jordan Morris, and Charlie Shirazi. And Myles Jones recovered a fumble.

▪ Myers Park didn’t have to punt until late in the third quarter. It was the Mustangs’ only punt of the night.

▪ Providence moved the ball well at times. Sophomore Holland Stallings, who entered in relief of starter Mason Boothe, completed 10 of 22 passes for 93 yards. But he had three passes picked off.

▪ The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for Providence.

What’s next?

Myers Park plays next Friday at Butler in the playoffs’ second round. Providence’s season is completed.

Providence 0 7 0 0 -- 7

Myers Park 20 14 14 7 -- 55

MP -- Trey Bly 75 interception return (kick blocked)

MP -- Moose Muhammad 42 pass from Drake Maye (Matthew Dennis kick)

MP -- Tim Newman 3 run (Dennis kick)

MP -- Logan Mauldin 4 pass from Maye (Dennis kick)

MP -- Elijah Bowick 20 pass from Maye (Dennis kick)

P -- Caleb Ogunmola 5 run (Eddie Czaplicki kick)

MP -- Jatoine Fields 3 run (Dennis kick)

MP -- Bowick 58 pass from Maye (James Malos kick)

MP -- Newman 12 run (Malos kick)

This story was originally published November 16, 2018 at 10:41 PM.