DECATUR — Michael Minter’s 63-yard punt return for a touchdown was enough to bring the Mustangs back and stun Osborne 15-14 at Panthersville Stadium in Decatur.

It was McNair’s first season-opening victory since 2005.

Osborne has not won a season opener since 2004.

The Cardinals had plenty of opportunities to try to pull out the victory. Osborne had four drives end in Mustangs’ territory, missed a field goal and came up short on a two-point conversion.

“We missed four touchdown passes and that’s the difference in the game,” Osborne coach Xarvia Smith said. “The kids played a little bit better than they did last week and hopefully we’ll get better next week as we get ready for Campbell.

“We’re going to try to get back to the fundamentals and what I’ve been trying to get them to understand is we have got to get ready for our region and we just got to use this time to get ready for our region games and that’s the main thing,” Smith said.

Robert Cook led the Cardinals with 101 yards of total offense, 85 of them on the ground.

“He had a great night tonight again, he ran the ball hard and I’m very proud of him,” Smith said. “I’ve been excited about what he’s been doing. Hopefully next week he’ll continue to do the same.

Osborne and McNair were a pair of evenly matched teams and the score proved it to be true throughout the game. The teams were tied 0-0 at the end of the first quarter and 8-8 at the half. The score remained that way until 3 minutes remained in the third quarter when Minter’s punt return put the Mustangs up 15-8.

The Cardinals first touchdown came on an interception and 51-yard return by Khalil McIntyre.