Midwest City offense shines in win against Noble
Midwest City’s Jahhim Mahmoud carries the ball against Noble last Friday night during a district football game at Noble High School. Photo by Jacob Sturm
By Jacob Sturm
Midwest City Beacon
NOBLE – When adversity struck on Friday night, Midwest City’s football team had the answers.
In the 42-34 Midwest City victory against Noble, a steady dose of running prowess ignited the Bombers while removing the crowd from becoming a major factor for much of the night.
It started with the Bombers’ offense, led by Jahhim Mahmoud’s 15 carries for 236 yards and three touchdowns.
Midwest City (6-3 overall, 5-1 in 5A District 1) found success running outside the tackles all night, and Darrell Hall’s squad held the momentum when the Bombers needed it most.
“We thought we could get around the edge and we did early,” Hall said. “And then when they got out (and) when they started taking away the edge, we’d get back inside. It’s a numbers game most of the time. We try to find deficiencies and things that we could take advantage of, and we were able to at times.”
When running didn’t work, the Bombers’ defense was able to maintain the score and keep the pressure on Noble (3-6, 3-3).
Then came a balanced attack of rushing threats when Mahmoud wasn’t getting the ball. Lasiera Laviolette had two touchdowns and 61 yards, while quarterback Kenneth Colston rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown, in addition to 56 passing yards.
Those contributions were needed as the game neared its conclusion. Noble scored on consecutive fourth down attempts to narrow the lead to seven points on multiple occasions. When the crowd got loud, Midwest City responded well.
“Every single time when they scored a touchdown, all I thought was ‘I need to play harder’” Mahmoud said.
It worked out well, too. Midwest City stifled any hopes for a comeback with multiple large plays to assert control and followed that up with critical execution down the stretch.
That included both Mahmoud and Colston making first down conversions to snatch the momentum away from Noble.
“It starts with the blocks,” Mahmoud said. “All I had was blocks, and all I see are the open holes and I go to it.”
Despite being outscored in the second half, the Bombers never let up. Hall recognized that and gave credit to Noble for keeping the game competitive.
“We didn’t quit, and Noble brought their A game,” Hall said. “… We didn’t defeat ourselves. They just played a good game, and we just had to stay ahead of them.”
Midwest City next faces undefeated Elgin on Friday night at Rose Field.
