SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2005-8

By Bill Engelhardt
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Last Friday evening, October 14, the Mustangs of South Western traveled to the den of the Lions of Red Lion and (3-4- overall, 2-1 YAIAA Division I) and lost 33-24 in a thriller that saw seven touchdowns of more than 40-yards, and four of them went for over 70-yards. Matt Barshinger rushed for 232-yards including touchdowns of 77, 77 and 52-yards, and he had 8 tackles and an interception on defense. He also returned 2 punts for 42-yards and 2 kickoffs for 64-yards. Tyler Green completed 5 passes for 177-yards, including 2 for 145-yards to Ed Kiser, which went for touchdowns of 65 and 80-yards, for the Lions. Kiser also returned 2 punts for 32-yards and 3 kickoffs for 76-yards. Andrew Downs recovered a fumble and Ryan Sisson blocked a Mustangs field goal attempt for the Lions.

Joe Ault led the Mustangs rushing attack with 78-yards and a 2-point conversion run; J. C. Laughlin completed 8 passes for 241-yards, including touchdowns of 44 and 18-yards to Drew Snyder (who caught 5 passes for 226-yards, with the longest going for 66-yards). Aaron Repman returned a kickoff 85-yards for a touchdown and Snyder kicked a 29-yard field goal (which set a new school record of 11 field goals in a career) for the Mustangs.

Aaron Repman returned 5 kickoffs for 136-yards, with the longest going for 85-yards and the touchdown. He also returned 3 punts for 19-yards, with the longest going for 20-yards. Jason Gigous returned a kickoff for 38-yards and a punt for 44-yards. Drew Snyder kicked off 4 times for 205-yards, with the longest going for 57-yards, and punted 3 times for 135-yards, for a 45.0-yard average, with the longest going for 51-yards, for the Mustangs.

Jesse Smith led the Mustangs defense with 11 tackles, a sack and 2 quarterback hurries, followed by Jeremy Renoll with 10 tackles, a quarterback hurry and an interception and Matt Bosley with 10 tackles and a sack. Dustin Shaw blocked a Red Lions extra point attempt and Eric Updegrove recovered a fumble for the Mustangs.

Joe Ault, Mark Bittinger, Seth Bolte, Matt Bosley, Jason Gigous, Chad La Gore, Jeremy Renoll, Aaron Repman, Clint Shaffer, Dustin Shaw, Jesse Smith, Jason Sneeringer, Drew Snyder, Eric Updegrove and Chris Wilson manned the offensive and defensive line and linebacker positions. Robert Barnett, Adam Hartman, Curtis Maphis, Aaron Repman, Cody Smith, Tim Smith and Max Wagaman patrolled the secondary.

The Mustangs gained 107-yards rushing and 241-yards passing for a total of 348 yards of offense. J. C. Laughlin completed 8 of 28 passes for the 241-yards. Drew Snyder caught 5 for his 226-yards and 2 touchdowns, Joe Ault caught 1 for 10-yards, and Jeremy Renoll caught 2 for 5-yards. Joe Ault led the rushing attack with 11 carries for his 78-yards, followed by Aaron Repman with 7 for 11, Laughlin with 5 for 7, Robert Barnett with 2 for 7, Tim Smith with 3 for 3, Jason Gigous with 1 for 2 and Cody Smith with 3 for minus 1-yard.

The Lions rang up a net 224-yards rushing and 177-yards passing for a total of 401-yards of offense. Tyler Green completed 5 of 10 passes for the 177-yards, including the 2 to Ed Kiser for 145-yards, 1 to Trent Thomas for 12-yards, 1 to Matt Barshinger for 11-yards and 1 to Andrew Downs for 9-yards. Barshinger led the rushing attack with 24 carries for his 232-yards and 3 touchdowns, followed by Joe Doyle with 5 carries for 11-yards and Green with 8 carries for minus 19-yards.

The South Western Mustang Marching Band and the 22-member Mustang Cheer Leading squad both wowed the excited crowd. The 7-time Cavalcade of Bands Champion, 2000 Tournament of Bands Champion and US Scholastic Band Champion Mustang Marching Band provided the half-time entertainment with the 2005 musical program entitled “Festive Overtures: A Holiday Collage,” which featured the majestic fanfare of Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Festive Overture,” Russian Sailors’ Dance from the ballet, “Red Poppy,” “Russian Easter” and “Russian Christmas.” The Lions Marching Band put on a stirring post-game show for the crowd that was still in awe of the game they had just witnessed.

The Mustangs of South Western are 1-6-0 overall and 1-3-0 in York Area Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

Don Seidenstricker has a 151-62-1 (.709) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 292-180-8. The results of the 480 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .619 winning percentage and a .625 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs host the Rockets of Spring Grove (4-3 overall, 2-2 YAIAA Division I) at the Mustang Corral. The Rockets are coming off of a 55-22 victory over the Wildcats of Dallastown. From here it looks like the Mustangs are ready to gallop and pass their way to the winning track. GO MUSTANGS GO.