Punishing defense sets the tone

By Michael Kinney
Mustang Times

When Louie Jones was asked to describe the Mustang defense in one word, the senior didn’t hesitate with an answer. With a small smile on his face, the 6-1, 290 defensive lineman said punishing.

Senior Waleed Gaines Jr. had a similar response when describing what the Broncos’ defense mentality is when they step on the field each night.

“We swarm and punish the offense at all times,” Gaines Jr. said.

Somewhere Waleed Gaines Sr. must have been smiling when he heard their responses. As he enters his second year as the Broncos’ defensive coordinator, that mindset is one he has continued to instill into his unit.

“Football is changing. The dynamics of football is changing with all of the rules,” Gaines Sr. explained. “But one thing stays the same. When you try to punish people, it still brings a tenacity, it brings a mentality, it brings just an idea of you might be able to gain a yard here, score a touchdown here, but you’re going to leave this game knowing you were in a dog fight.”

In 2023, Mustang found itself in a lot of dog fights. And while the scoreboard didn’t always come out in their favor, Gaines Sr. knew his players did the one thing he wanted from them.

“They are just hardworking kids. That’s it. They don’t know anything else. Just work hard and smash mouth old school,” Gaines Sr. said. “Just want to make sure you were in a dog fight, you knew you were fighting somebody in this game. At the end of the day, you’re not going to win every game. We want to, we definitely want to, but you earn more respect when people walk out and go, man, I know we won, but man, that hurt. And that’s the mentality.”

As the 2024 campaign approaches, the Broncos will have to replace several key players from last year’s unit that gave up 423 points (35 ppg) in 12 games. That includes the likes of Caston Meadows, Zach Warren and Zach Doran.

But Gaines senior says he wasn’t left empty handed as far as pieces to work with. While they may not have the experience level of previous seasons, the talent is there.

“Last year we relied on a lot of young kids that never really got thrown into the limelight, never had that experience,” Gaines Sr. said. “This year those guys are coming back as veterans, but we still have a lot of young kids again, and that’s a testament to this program and this community. I think for the first time in a long time we’ve had a lot of young kids who can step in and play right the way. We’ve had great athletes here in Mustang in the past, but I think as a whole we have more that are young that can play right now.”

Some of the players looking to step into that limelight this season include junior Tayten Duncan, senior Blaine Fulmer, junior Josiah Stevens, junior Dereck Straughn, junior Parker Sorrell, junior Kayden Bachus and senior Latin Everheart.

Junior Jaytee, who missed last year with an injury, also returns looking to make an impact in the Broncos’ secondary. He will be one of several players who will see action on both sides of the ball.

“That’s credit to our strength program and Coach (Jason) Doran and credit to Coach (Lee) Blankenship and this community.” Gaines Sr. said. “We are to the point where we have a lot of athletes that can do that. In the past, we had really good players who could, but this is one of the first times since I’ve been here that you got a plethora of young men who have the capability to do it to where they can learn both sides. They can learn our schemes, which can be kind of intricate and they can play at a high level on both ends of the ball. So that’s kind of where we are.”