In the final minutes of the Idaho Mustangs’ 28-18 victory Saturday night at Holt Arena, the trailing Snake River Sabercats had one more shot to get a quick score and turn the ending into a true nail-biter.
Snake River attempted to drive down the field, but the hard-hitting Mustangs would have none of it. On a night when Idaho’s defense dominated, the Sabercats were unable to muster a late comeback.
“We had to win this one,” said running back Bryce Olsen. “We’re in a playoff push and this was important.”
Olsen, a 6-foot-3, 250-pound scoring machine, racked up three rushing touchdowns on the night.
“I’d much rather have a ‘W,’ (then score so much)” he said. “I guess I got the best of both worlds tonight.”
The Idaho Mustangs, a semi-pro team playing in the Rocky Mountain Football League, are nearing the end of their regular season and looking to control their own destiny when it comes to qualifying for the playoffs. They will have to travel to Arco to take on the Anarchy next Saturday.
“We have one more game, and we have to win it,” said linebacker/coach Greg Hillary, a 2004 Pocatello High School graduate. “It’s a playoff game for us. Win and we’re in.”
The tenacity of the Mustangs’ final stand Saturday night is a microcosm of what the team and its players stand for. The entire roster is comprised of athletes that play for the love of the game while sacrificing family and work time just to get on the field.
“I love the game of football, we all do,” said Cody Stegelmeier, a 49-year-old offensive lineman. “These guys are like family to me. It’s great. I also like the camaraderie we have with the other team.”
Believe it or not, Stegelmeier isn’t the eldest of the Mustangs. 51-year-old Brad Darrington takes that title as well as last year’s league MVP award. Despite the success, he plans on retiring from the game after the season is over.
“I feel fortunate to be playing,” he said. “We all have a limited number of football years in us when it comes to injuries. Every game might be your last and tonight is probably mine.”
Darrington said that he averages about one injury per year.
“I’m feeling it in my hips right now,” he said.
But it’s more than just football for Darrington. The guys that surround him, many of which are young enough to be his sons, keep him young.
“I like to watch the speed athletes out here, guys like the defensive backs,” he said. “Some I feel a paternal bond with, I wish they were my kids.”
“But I wouldn’t introduce one of them to my daughter,” he laughed.
Greg Hillary and his older brother Eric are two of the 64 players on the Mustangs’ roster. Just like the rest of the teams in their league, they must juggle work, family and other obligations to pay their own way onto the field. In fact, Greg works at the Bannock County Juvenile Detention Center. Being a member of the Mustangs has played a role with the youth at his job.
“The kids see me as a role model, something to look up to as a way to get themselves out of their situation,” Greg said.
Greg and the rest of the Idaho Mustangs take on Arco next Saturday with kick off coming at 6 p.m.