VEEDERSBURG, Ind. —  The Fountain Central Mustangs won their 8th game of the season Friday night 55-27 over the Rockville Rox.

However, the Mustangs won a little bit differently on their last regular season game.

While the dominating rushing attack was as strong as ever, sophomore quarterback Koby Pierce emerged as yet another weapon on an already loaded team.

Pierce went 10-for-14 with 134 yards, mix that in with 267 yards rushing and four touchdowns from senior running back Michael Duane, two touchdowns apiece from juniors Jack Bolin and Jared Fishero and you have a strong looking offense heading into the playoffs.

“We know we can throw, we like throwing. People are seeing that we run so well and they want to put everyone into stopping the running game.” Mustangs Coach Brian Moore said. “What I like about Koby is that he has some zip on the ball. He’s gaining confidence every game. The fact we could throw the ball as well as we did excites me.”

Coming off a loss a week ago, Fountain Central came out hot. On their first drive they marched down the field and scored on Bolin run. Not to be outdone by the offense the Mustangs defense forced a turnover on the first two Rox drives leading to a 21-0 first quarter advantage for the Mustangs.

“We practiced the way we always do, came out and worked hard. But we wanted to make sure we came out well and didn’t play flat.” Moore said.

The passing success opened up some holes for the running game and Michael Duane extended the Mustang lead with a 57 yard touchdown run early in the second quarter.

“It starts with our great offensive line, and then you have Duane who’s hard to take down, he won’t go down without a fight.” Pierce said of his teammates.

While the Rox were down by at least three scores for the remainder of the game, they showed signs of greatness at times. The young team made some incredible, jaw dropping plays that made the future look bright. Three sophomore in particular: quarterback Kiontre Wilkey, running back Ben Cunningham and wide receiver Kyle Paddock.

In the second quarter, Wilkey showed his blazing fast speed as he turned what looked to be a couple yard gain into a 44-yard touchdown run.

Cunningham ran very well against the very tough Mustang defense and ended the game with over 100 yards rushing, and a 24 yard touchdown run.

But the best play came late in the third quarter. Wilkey ran a play action pass to his left, his pass was slightly away and behind Paddock but that didn’t matter. Paddock made an incredible turn and one handed catch, then ran for a 44 yard touchdown.

“We’re young but it gives us a lot of confidence. Even though we didn’t win we played really hard and we got them on their backs a few times.” Cunningham said.

But even with the big plays two second half touchdowns from Duane and another from Fishero made it so the Rox never got close to a comeback and Fountain Central walked away with another win to their record.

With North Vermillion winning their game, the Mustangs finish second in the Wabash River Conference.

Next week both teams will play in rematches from this season. Fountain Central will host Benton Central, who they beat 21-7. Meanwhile, Rockville will take on Attica who beat them 27-6.