Injury to Dillard overshadows SM's season-ending loss Friday

The Mustangs finished the year 4-7 overall and 1-6 in the Western Athletic Conference. They lost their last five games.

As disappointing as the loss was, it was clearly overshadowed by an injury to Trent Dillard that occurred early in the second quarter. Dillard broke both bones in his lower right leg and was operated on Saturday morning at Harris Regional Hospital.

Coach Cameron Brooks said the surgery was successful, and a complete recovery is expected in four to six months.

"We played on emotion the next three or four plays then reality kind of set in," Brooks said. "Trent was a team leader. That took a lot out of us."

He said even players who don't normally show emotion had tears in their eyes when Dillard was taken from the field.

The injury occurred when Dillard came from the left end attempting to block an extra point and Travis Hipps came from the right end.

Hipps' helmet collided with Dillard's leg.

Even before Dillard got hurt the Mustangs were off to a rough start. They fell behind 17-0 on the play Dillard sustained the injury.

The Jets compiled 494 yards of total offense, the most ever allowed by the Mustangs. The 25 first downs yielded by SM were the most in school history.

Enka was known to have a strong passing attack, and R.D. Moody completed 17 of 28 passes for 219 yards. Phillip Bohanon's 10 receptions went for 135 yards.

What wasn't expected was for the Jets to rush for 275 yards, including 220 by Josh Arrowood.

"The passing game opens up the running game," Brooks said. "We were worried about trying to get pressure on Moody a lot of times and ran right by that running back."

He was impressed with the play of Moody and Bohanon.

With neither team going to the playoffs, Brooks had talked about the importance of sending the seniors out on a winning note and having a positive finish to carry over to next season. However, it was the Jets who came out fired up and scored on four of their first five possessions.

"It was disappointing, especially for the kids," the coach said. "We were four or five plays away from being 6-5 or 7-4. Most of these kids will go on to other sports. You always want to end something on a positive, but a lot of times you don't have any control over that."

On a positive note, Michael Ritchie became the fourth Mustang receiver in school history to catch at least one pass in every game.

"To me he's still one of the best possession receivers," Brooks said of Ritchie. "If he wants to, I think he'll have an opportunity to play on the next level. He's been very consistent."

He singled out lineman Chris Hilton for his play on defense.

Brooks addressed rumors that he planned to step down, possibly for a coaching job at his alma mater, Gaffney (S.C.) High School.

"I can't stop those rumors," he said. "I don't know how they get started. I have no intention of leaving. I want to build a program here."

Back to Sports: 11/09/00.