Munster rains on Hobart’s parade

HOBART — Hobart honored its senior athletes and Hall of Fame inductees Friday evening but Munster proved to be anything but gracious guests as the Mustangs rolled over Hobart 41-6.

The Mustangs got two touchdowns each from Chimez Okolocha and Nick Brajak in the win.

“We were lucky, we took the wind and got a couple of quick scores,” said Munster coach Leroy Marsh.

The Mustangs (3-4, 2-2) drew first blood at 7:05 of the first quarter on a 1-yard dive by Okolocha. The high snap on the extra point was run in by holder Mark Strbjak to give Munster an 8-0 lead on its first possession. Okolocha accounted for 34 of the Mustangs’ 40 yards on the drive on six carries and led all rushers with 96 yards on 18 carries.

Munster wasted little time on its second possession with Okolocha scoring his second of the night, finding the end zone off left tackle from 5 yards out. The kick was wide left, giving the Mustangs a 14-0 lead with 4:14 left in the first. The big play on the drive was a Strbjak to Earnest Carter pass covering 42 yards.

The Mustangs scored one final time in the first quarter as Brajak went 26 yards on a counter. The kick was wide right again giving Munster a 20-0 lead.

The Brickies (1-6, 0-5) finally got some momentum going offensively, but a Zac Randall fumble was picked up by Oliver Sutter and returned 80 yards for a Munster score. The Ryan Wilkens kick gave the Mustangs a 27-0 halftime lead.

“Pound for pound, Sutter is one of the best football players in the state. He plays everything for us,” said Marsh.

The Mustangs extended the lead with 6:36 left in the third quarter as Brajak ran another counter to the right side from 35 yards out. The Wilkins kick made it 34-0. Sutter picked off an Andrew Barras pass and returned 33 yards to set up a 2 yard Gio Murillo touchdown run. The Brickies avoided the shutout as R.J. Housley fell on a fumbled punt snap with 1:09 left.

The kick was blocked.

“Munster was ready to play tonight,” said Brickies coach Ryan Turley. “It’s a game of momentum, they had it and we didn’t.”

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