As Tropical Storm Hanna approached the Triangle, Sanderson and Middle Creek played on. But it was Middle Creek who came away with the 24-8 win, grabbing its first win of the season and providing the only blemish in the still young season for Sanderson.

While the harsh conditions led to a sloppy start to the game with Sanderson holding a 2-0 lead after the first quarter, Middle Creek’s defense shined and quarterback Matt Leathem passed for 182 yards, with 104 of those going to receiver Tre Nesbit.

“It’s definitely impressive the way the defense stepped up against a really good offense,” Middle Creek coach Sean Crocker said. “[Sanderson has] guys who can take it the distance on any play, and we’ve seen that in the first two weeks.”

After Middle Creek’s slow start, Leathem and company got moving, mixing in the spread passing attack with handoffs to running back Stephen Sladek, who finished with 133 yards and two touchdowns. The Mustangs owned the second quarter, driving up and down the field on their way to a 15-2 halftime lead.

“The spread is just such a tough offense to defend,” Crocker said. “We’ve got to get somebody open and the quarterbacks have to be smart enough and trust his linemen enough to have the time to throw it. Luckily our guys did a good job against a big defensive line.”

The last touchdown of the half came with only six seconds on the clock, as Crocker had a decision to make. With his team down at the Sanderson two-yard-line, Crocker gave Leathem the ball instead of kicking a field goal. Leathem found Nesbit on a short slant for the touchdown.

“We’re going to live and die by what we do,” Crocker said. “So we said we were going for it — no guts no glory.”

On the Mustangs’ first drive of the second half, kicker Matt Frongelo booted home a 43-yard field goal pushing the heavy, wet ball just over the uprights.

“He’s got a leg on him and all he needs is some opportunities,” Crocker said. “I think he was kind of surprised that I called his number, but I believe in him. If it had been about six or seven yards back I still would have kicked it.”

But it was Middle Creek’s defense that shined Friday night. Sanderson’s only scores came on the safety in the first quarter and a 59-yard punt return by the Spartans’ Matt James. In all, the Mustangs held Sanderson to 193 yards of offense and forced three turnovers.

The teams fought through a few of Hanna’s occasional downpours, but Crocker said they didn’t affect his team.

“We told our team we didn’t care what the weather conditions were,” Crocker said. “We were going to have to play in it just like they were. It affected us some but for the most part we were able to execute our gameplan.”

The Mustangs finished the game with their proven commodity — churning yards out on the ground with Sladek, who ran his team’s last touchdown in 4:20 remaining.

And though Middle Creek still had its fair share of penalties and turnovers, Crocker said he was pleased with the way his team fought through the mistakes and kept pushing.

“We’ve had penalties and turnovers in the first two weeks that were really out of control,” Crocker said. “It’s more just being focused and honing in on what we should do.”