Evergreen Park wins 'do-or-die' game

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:18PM

Starting off the season with four straight wins, Evergreen Park seemed like an early season lock to reach the playoffs.

But having lost four straight games since, the Mustangs headed into Friday's regular season finale in a must-win situation against a Reavis team that had won the previous three matchups between the two teams.

In a do-or-die situation to even be eligible for the playoffs, Evergreen Park won 41-14 at home over Reavis Friday night.

"In order to give us an opportunity to get in, we needed to be 5-4, and we think we've got the (playoff) points," Evergreen Park coach Mike Barry said. "We'll see what happens, but we sold it all week long this was our first round of the playoffs, and the kids really responded well. We came out hot and played four full quarters."

Making just his third start, sophomore quarterback Brandon Smith led the Mustangs (5-4, 3-3) with 132 rushing yards and three rushing scores to go with a 7-for-9 passing performance for 92 yards and a score through the air.

Smith scored all three of his touchdowns in the first half, twice on runs of one yard each as well as a 28-yarder midway through the second.

The sophomore also drove Evergreen down the field 60 yards with three minutes left in the second quarter, capping off the drive with his third touchdown of the day to give the Mustangs a 20-0 halftime lead.

"(Brandon's) really impressive," Barry said. "He's a cool customer. He's still learning, and he doesn't know everything yet, but he has all the tools, and he has the mentality it takes to be a starting quarterback."

Reavis (1-8, 1-5) refused to go quietly in the second half, scoring two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

Quarterback Max Pickering found Robert Cybulski for a 26-yard touchdown strike early in the fourth. After the Rams recovered an Evergreen fumble, Alejandro Morales punched into the end zone for a 1-yard rushing score.

Pickering finished with 80 yards rushing on 23 attempts while going 9-for-18 with 125 yards and a touchdown. Morales finished with 72 rushing yards for the Rams.

Also contributing for Evergreen Park was Victor Baker, finishing with 132 rushing yards and a 43-yard rush that capped off the scoring late in the fourth.

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