Midland Christian Snaps Wall's Winning Streak on Friday Night

MIDLAND, TX — Midland Christian snapped Wall's 21-game winning streak on Friday night. After taking an early lead, some mental mistakes slowed Wall's offense down enough for the Mustangs to storm back and take over in the first half. Wall never managed to fully recover and fell to the Mustangs, 34-26.

"In the first half, we only had one offensive score," Wall head coach Craig Slaughter said. "When [Midland Christian] got their offense rolling, we did a terrible job of making stops. Sometimes getting your butt whipped can cleanse you soul. We will rebound from it and be better off going forward."

The first half could be defined by three different plays. A failed 4th down and two false starts. Jager Thompson put Wall in scoring position on the Hawks' opening drive on a 40-yard pass play, but Wall failed to capitalize. Midland Christian's defense turned the Hawks back on four straight plays to keep the score even early in the 1st quarter.

However, Wall's defense proved up to the task and took advantage of the Mustangs' poor field position to put Wall on the board. On a 3rd and long backed up against the end zone, Midland Christian was called for holding in the end zone. By rule, the play resulted in a safety, and Wall took an early 2-0 lead.

The offense followed that up with its first touchdown. The Hawks converted a 4th and goal a few minutes after the safety on a 6-yard pass from Gunner King to Evan Boehle to put Wall up 9-0.

Then, Midland Christian fought back. The Mustangs would score on two straight drives to take a 14-9 lead midway through the 2nd quarter. Wall had an opportunity to answer in between those two touchdowns, but a false start turned a 3rd-and-manageable into a 3rd and long, and the Hawks were forced to punt.

Wall did answer with less than four minutes to play, but again, a false start on 4th and short forced the Hawks to settle for a field goal. Down 14-12, the Hawks then gave up a deep pass that put Midland Christian on Wall's 2-yard line with less than a minute to play in the 2nd. The Mustangs would score two plays later to take a 20-12 lead into the locker rooms.

The Mustangs picked up right where they left off on Midland Christian's first possession of the 3rd quarter. Another explosive play led to another touchdown, and suddenly Wall found themselves down two scores.

The Hawks did an admirable job answering, but down eight, Wall had to make a stop. However, it was just not the Hawks' night on defense. Midland Christian began to milk the clock and added another touchdown early in the 4th quarter to extend its lead to 34-19.

To make matters worse, Wall lost quarterback Gunner King on the Hawks' first touchdown drive in the second half. It looks like he will be OK, but King missed the entire 4th quarter.

Ian Reichenau did an admirable job in relief, connecting with Braylon Nelson on a 4th down deep pass to put the Hawks back in scoring postion, but Wall simply ran out of time. Reichenau would score again to pull back within eight ponts, but it was too little too late.

Midland Christian forced Wall to burn their timeouts and then secured the win with a final first down.

Wall, the No. 2-ranked team in Class 3A Division I, fell to 5-1 with its first loss since the 2024 state semifinals. Midland Christian, a private school state power, improved to 3-3.

Next up, the Hawks open district play on the road against Llano next Friday. Wall needs to get healthy and bounce back fast if it wants to compete for a district championship.