SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2005-10

By Bill Engelhardt
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Last Friday evening, October 28, the Mustangs of South Western romped over the Colonials of New Oxford (4-4- overall, 2-3 YAIAA Division I) 34-7. You can certainly say that Smith had a lot to do with the outcome in this game. Jessie Smith scored a touchdown on a 35-yard circus catch, Cody Smith scored two rushing touchdowns and Tim Smith had a nifty 8-yard run and some good defensive plays for the Mustangs. Twins Adam and Alex were stars for the Colonials. Quarterback Alex passed for 72-yards and had a neat 10-yard run and running back Adam led the rushing attack with 48-yards and returned 3 kickoffs for 44-yards.

The Mustangs came galloping out of the chute and romped all over the field. The defense kept the Colonials bottled up on their own side of the field most of the night and the offense repeatedly took advantage of a short field. Their first possession started at the Colonials 42-yard line and ended with a punt to the Colonials 6, their only punt of the night. Their next possession started on the Colonials 37-yard line. Five plays later Aaron Repman ripped off a 17-yard touchdown jaunt.

On the very next possession the Mustangs started on their own 28-yard line and sustained a 7-play drive, featuring a nifty 45-yard run by Eric Updegrove. Cody Smith followed that run with a 4-yard touchdown run and the Mustangs, with the help of 2 Drew Snyder extra point kicks, were up 14-0 early in the second quarter. The Colonials could do nothing on offense and the Mustangs took over again on their 48-yard line. A 10-yard pass from J. C. Laughlin to Drew Snyder and a 7-yard run by Repman was followed by the circus catch by Jessie Smith for the touchdown, and Snyder’s kick upped the score to 21-0.

The Mustangs got the ball right back when Robert Barnett intercepted a Colonials pass at the Mustangs 31, and Repman followed that with a 17-yard jaunt to the 48. The drive, featuring a 13-yard pass from Laughlin to Snyder, culminated in a 7-yard touchdown run by Cody Smith, for his second touchdown. Snyder’s kick made it 28-0 going into the half.

The Mustangs final scoring drive started on the Colonials 33-yard line near the end of the third quarter and continued into the fourth quarter. Jason Gigous and Updegrove each picked up a yard and then Laughlin launched a beautiful 31-yard touchdown strike to Jeremy Renoll.

Substitutions were liberally made on both sides and the Colonials were able to avoid the shutout with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Ross Hall to Richard Stover with 49 seconds left in the game.

Eric Updegrove returned a kickoff for 15-yards and Josh Rummel returned one for 3-yards for the Mustangs. Aaron Repman returned 2 punts for 17-yards, with the longest going for 14-yards, and Jason Gigous returned 2 punts for 13-yards, with the longest going for 10-yards. Drew Snyder kicked off 6 times for 350-yards, with the longest going for 60-yards, and he had 2 touchbacks. He punted once (a pooch punt) for 29-yards.

Jeremy Renoll again led the Mustangs swarming defense with 10 tackles and a sack. Matt Bosley had 10 tackles and a big pass defense and Jessie Smith also had 10 tackles. Clint Shaffer and Jason Sneeringer each tipped a pass to thwart a completion. Barnett’s interception set up a scoring drive for the Mustangs.

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, Mike Stremmel, 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. Kevin Alwine, John Bingham, Brian Bosley, Donnie Brady, Gordon Corwyn, Daryl Grubb, Blair Messinger, Travis Scott and Kory Yelton also saw action.

The Mustangs gained 258-yards rushing and 89-yards passing for a total of 347 yards of offense. J. C. Laughlin completed 4 of 8 passes for the 89-yards. Drew Snyder caught 2 for 23-yards, Jessie Smith caught 1 for 35-yards and the touchdown, and Jeremy Renoll caught 1 for 31-yards and the touchdown. Aaron Repman led the rushing attack with 17 carries for 91-yards and the touchdown, followed by Eric Updegrove with 3 for 55, Cody Smith with 7 for 52 and the 2 touchdowns, Robert Barnett with 10 for 33, Cody Shue with 1 for 9, Tim Smith with 2 for 7, Bryan Shanklin with 2 for 6, J. C. Laughlin with 1 for 4, and Jason Gigous with 1 for 1-yard.

The Colonials gained 85-yards rushing and 86-yards passing for a total of 171-yards of offense. Alex Smith completed 6 of 12 passes for 72-yards and Ross Hall completed 1 of 3 passes for the 14-yard touchdown to Stover. Richard Stover caught 2 passes for 29-yards, Erik Harris caught 2 for 27-yards, Shane Shultz caught 1 for 12-yards, Kody Kibler caught 1 for 9-yards and Eric Smith caught 1 for 9-yards. Adam Smith led the rushing attack with 12 carries for 48-yards, followed by Mike Duncan with 1 for 19-yards, Ross Hall with 1 for 12-yards, Brian Lawrence with 2 for 6-yards, Kibler with 2 for 1-yard and Alex Smith with 1 for minus a yard.

Adam Smith returned 3 kickoffs for 44-yards, with the longest going for 17-yards, and Erik Harris returned 1 for 15-yards for the Colonials. Brian Stabler kicked off twice for 66-yards, for a 33-yard average, with the longest going for 34-yards, and Zach Keffer punted 6 times for 195-yards, for a 32.5-yard average, with the longest going for 37-yards, for the Colonials.

The South Western Mustang Marching Band and the 20-member Mustang Cheer Leading squad both entertained the 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 Colonials Marching Band put on a rousing show for the crowd after the game.

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

Don Seidenstricker has a 153-62-1 (.712) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 294-180-8. The results of the 482 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .620 winning percentage and a .627 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs host the Squires of Delone Catholic (5-4 overall, 4-2 YAIAA Division III). The Squires are coming off of a 13-0 loss to the Thunderbolts of Littlestown. From here it looks like the Mustangs are ready to again gallop away and end their season on the winning track. GO MUSTANGS GO.