GRIDIRON GLANCE ’24: Brookesmith Mustangs

August 22, 2024 at 7:16 am Derrick Stuckly

BROOKESMITH – A program on the rise, the Brookesmith Mustangs look to take the next step in 2024 and earn their first postseason berth since 2020 following a 4-5 campaign a season ago.

The Mustangs return three starters on each side of the ball from last year’s team, which added three victories to their season tally after back-to-back 1-9 campaigns. Had it not been for injuries, Brookesmith may have experienced even greater fortunes in 2023.

“It was much more positive the second year,” said Brookesmith third year head coach Jack Graves, who is 5-14 at the school and 110-60 in his coaching career. “We won more games, played a little bit more consistent, but we wound up with the injury bug again midway through the season going into district which pretty changed our season pretty drastically.”

With a larger roster in terms of available players this year, Graves and the Mustangs are hopeful to have plenty of weapons at their disposal by the time the District 15-A Division II slate rolls around.

“We have an interesting group with some seniors for the first time in my three years here, and then a lot of freshmen and not much in between – one sophomore and one junior,” Graves said. “It’s an interesting mix of maturity with a heavy senior and heavy freshman group, it’s almost like different worlds. But I think it’s an easier transition for these freshmen because they also had me for two years in junior high.”

Among the players to keep an eye on for the Mustangs are Adyn Ribble, Derrick Beard, Landon Slayton and Jalen Johnson.

“Adyn was my main player last year, he rushed for over 1,000 yards and more 20 touchdowns, but he had to carry too much of the load in district because I was limited offensively because of all the injuries,” Graves said. “Derrick Beard brings a lot of football knowledge. He had to sit out last year but he’s familiar with all the stuff we’re doing. He should help out a lot. Landon Slayton in in his third year with me, Jalen Johnson’s a first year senior for us that had to sit out last year. Our seniors are doing a good job taking the younger guys and encouraging them, building them up and helping them.”

Prior to the start of district, the Mustangs will attempt to build confidence and compile victories against the likes of Mullin, Bluff Dale, Moran, Gustine, and Olfen.

“I want to see unity as a team, working together, playing together as a group,” Graves said of the pre-district goals. “The first few days of practice were amazing. We were running through plays and we haven’t been able to do that so early before. Hopefully I can get some of the younger guys some playing time in these non-district games. That will go a long way for this year and next year.”

When the 15-A Division II slate arrives, No. 2 Richland Springs is again waiting, and Rochelle is anticipated to nab the second playoff spot from the district. The Mustangs are tabbed to come in third, according to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, ahead of Panther Creek and Lohn.

“It’s a tough district again anytime you have Richland Springs in your district, they’re a perennial Top 10 team in the state,” Graves said. “Rochelle is going to be really good with a big senior class. Panther Creek, I don’t know as much about, haven’t seen much film on them yet. Lohn should be way improved and be one of the bigger surprises in our district. District is going to be hard. There won’t be any easy games in district even though we lose Cherokee.”

Regarding what Graves would consider a successful season for the Mustangs in 2024, he said, “Obviously we’d like to win more games than we did last year. I’d like to have at least one or two more wins than last year, that would be a huge positive, and we want to have a much better showing in district than we have the last two years. I think we can play much better football than we have, but we have to be healthy and that’s been our downfall. But we should be more competitive in district than we have been in three years, and I think we’ll show great improvement in the quality of play, especially from year one.”

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BROOKESMITH MUSTANGS 2024 SCHEDULE

Aug. 30	Mullin	7:30 p.m.
Sept. 6	at Bluff Dale	7:30 p.m.
Sept. 13	at Moran	7:30 p.m.
Sept. 20	OPEN
Sept. 27	at Gustine	7:30 p.m.
Oct. 4	Olfen	7:30 p.m.
Oct. 11	Richland Springs*	7:30 p.m.
Oct. 18	Rochelle*	7:30 p.m.
Oct. 25	at Lohn*	7:30 p.m.*
Nov. 1	at Panther Creek*	7:30 p.m.
Nov. 8	OPEN	OPEN