The Mustangs controlled the first half — they got on the scoreboard first, played solid defense and built a 10-3 lead against one of the top teams in the area.

But in the second half Middle Creek ran out of gas and Garner showed why it’s ranked No. 1 in the region by The News & Observer. The Trojans exploded for four touchdowns and locked up the Mustang offense en route to a 38-17 victory.

“We knew we were the better team,” Middle Creek running back Nate Harris said. “Even though we lost, we’re the better team. I guess we just didn’t put it together. It’s the second week in a row that we didn’t put it all together going against a team that’s not as good as us.”

The Mustangs (0-2) got on the board first with a 34-yard field goal from Travis Howard, and the Trojans responded (2-0) with a field goal of their own to tie the game. But as the penalties mounted against Garner, Middle Creek marched 71 yards down the field and took a 10-7 lead when Harris scored on a 14-yard touchdown run with 1:25 left in the half.

It appeared the Mustangs would go into halftime with the momentum and the lead but the ensuing kickoff traveled six yards out of bounds to put the Trojans on Middle Creek’s 46-yard-line. Four plays later Garner quarterback Kameron Smith plunged 1 yard into the endzone to tie the game at 10 and give the Trojans a boost heading into the locker room.

“I think we had them on the ropes,” said Middle Creek coach Sean Crocker. “They were a little frazzled at that point and we had a bad special-teams play and they get a big play out of it and they go down and score right before the half. I think you can just see the energy on their sideline pick up and it gave them the momentum to really come after us and they did.”

The Trojans mostly came after the Mustangs on the ground, as running back Darrice Payton rushed for 136 yards on 18 carries. Smith was not only 10 for 18 for 111 yards in the air but also racked up 101 on the ground.

“We gave them a new wrinkle,” said Garner coach Nelson Smith. “Normally we don’t use the quarterback as a rusher. But Kameron has just been making some successful plays scrambling the ball so we basically went in, snapped it to him, got two blockers out in front of him and I’ll tell you what, he made some great runs.”

The Mustangs scored their only points of the second half in the fourth quarter when quarterback Brett Burnette, despite a bad snap and defensemen in his face, tossed a 23-yard touchdown pass to Avone Jones. The offensive boost, however, was short-lived as Payton responded with a 24-yard touchdown run, his second of the night, to seal the game for the Trojans.

“We hung in there for a half,” said Burnette, who grew up in Garner. “We had a couple of dropped passes that could have been touchdowns — we had two of them. So that tells you we can play with them.” Burnette finished 8 for 27 for 137 yards and scrambled for 53 yards, as he dodged the Garner defense that pressured him all night.

Harris, the other bright spot on the Mustang offense, rushed for 63 yards but was visibly tired at the end of the game because he also lined up on the defensive side of the ball.

“I think late in the game we kinda ran out of gas,” Crocker said. “They have more depth than we do. They have more one-ways than we do. We have a couple guys going both ways. We kinda tired and slowed down. We just got to work ourselves in shape where our guys can go both ways the whole game because we’re going to need that as the season goes on.”