Madisonville’s defense came away with a pair of turnovers and a whopping 10 tackles behind the line of scrimmage in Friday’s 27-18 victory in Shepherd to help the Mustangs open district play on the right note.

“I felt like, the last two games, our defense has played really well,” said head coach Russell Urbantke when asked about his defense’s intensity of late. “Some of the things that are concerning me this week compared to last week is that Rusk is slinging it around everywhere while Shepherd was a run-first offense. We have to really hone in on our pass defense because Rusk is going to have a different mentality.”

Ronnie Mosley and Tyreke Hastings each logged fumble recoveries to help the Mustangs build an insurmountable lead early while a number of Mustangs penetrated the line of scrimmage and stuffed Shepherd ball carriers in the backfield.

Inside linebacker Cameron Thrower led the team with eight tackles and three tackles for loss while Rayce Hudson added seven, one of which was for a loss. Conner Swonke was next with six tackles while Jeramiah Burns logged five, two of which were for losses.

Xzavier Whaley, Cody Borgfeld, Keyvunt Simpson and Hastings all also recorded one tackle behind the line of scrimmage in the win.

“(Defensive Coordinator Heath Brittain) and the defense had a great game plan for stopping that rush attack,” said Urbantke. “(Inside linebackers Thrower and Swonke) did a great job as well as our outside linebackers (Borgfeld, Burns and Whaley). All those guys were really coming hard off the edge and forcing everything back inside. There were really only a couple of times their quarterback cut loose on us and he is a very good athlete.”

Urbantke praised his defense’s bend but don’t break mentality in the win, referencing the times they stopped Shepherd in the red zone with turnovers and didn’t allow them back into the game.

In their second district bout, the Mustangs will welcome Rusk quarterback Owen McCown to Madisonville, who has committed to continue his career at the collegiate level at Colorado.

“(McCown) is already committed to play D-1 football and we haven’t faced anyone like him this year,” said Urbantke. “They have about two or three running schemes and that is it. They are truly a spread offense and they are going to stretch the field vertically.

“We have to contain (McCown), pressure him, and we cannot let him outside of the pocket, because he can run. He is a dual threat.”

Last year, the Mustangs fell to Rusk 37-29 on the road.

“It is a different challenge for our defense,” said Urbantke. “We haven’t seen this all year. Last year we had a good plan and I felt like we kept them at bay at times, we just need to eliminate the big plays. We are going to have to make them earn it.”

Friday’s district matchup between Madisonville and Rusk is schedule to kickoff at 7:30 p.m. at Mustang Stadium.