In control of their own destiny – holding the tie-breaker over idle Fuquay-Varina – the Mustangs routed Apex 33-0 to claim the No. 1 seed from the Tri-Nine conference heading into next week’s NCHSAA playoffs.

“Getting that No. 1 seed is huge,” Middle Creek coach Sean Crocker said. “It guarantees you at least one home (playoff) game. And with the pod system the way it is, and with a lot tough teams in our area, it gives us a better chance to move on.”

Middle Creek (8-3, 7-1) eliminated any drama early.

The Mustangs scored on their first four possessions and held Apex to just one first down in the first half.

Quarterback David Salmon capped their opening drive with a 6-yard touchdown run less than three minutes into the first quarter to make it 7-0. Running back Naylaan Lopez pushed the lead to two touchdowns with 6:27 left in the opening quarter when he scored from 4 yards out.

Middle Creek blocked the Cougars’ third punt of the first quarter to set up a 3-yard Devone Johnson touchdown just a few plays later. With 2:43 still on the first-quarter clock, the Mustangs led 21-0.

“We’ve been trying to work on playing up to our capabilities every game, and not wait on the other team to dictate the tempo of the game,” Crocker said. “Tonight the players took that challenge to heart and really got after it early.”

Middle Creek pushed its advantage to four scores just 25 seconds into the second quarter when Lopez found the end zone for a second time. A failed extra point kept the score 27-0 Mustangs.

Apex (1-7-1, 1-7) finally stopped the Middle Creek offensive machine on its fifth drive of the game, but could not capitalize on the offensive side of the ball. The Cougars recorded their only first down of the opening half with 3:24 left in the second quarter, and finished the first half with only 43 yards of total offense.

The second half was no better for Apex’s offense, and the Mustangs tacked on one more touchdown – a Salmon to Kevin Jones hook-up from 8 yards out – in the fourth quarter to cap their regular and put the finishing touches on their conference championship.

“Overall, I really like our team heading into the playoffs,” Crocker said.

“We’ve got good players at every position and it seems like we’re getting better. At the beginning of the year, I felt like we were playing at a high level against really good competition. Then I thought we dropped off a bit against lesser competition. So I’m hoping with the competition level going back up in the playoffs, we’ll again be able to raise our level and get that spark we need to advance.”