SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2006-10

By Bill Engelhardt
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Last Friday evening, October 27, the Mustangs of South Western hosted the Bearcats of York (William Penn) and recorded a convincing 19-0 shutout to clinch the York-Adams Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I title outright for the second time in three years and the 14th time in the history of the school, and put themselves solidly in the 4th seed for the class AAA District 3 Playoffs (with the possibility of being as high as the second seed when all of the calculations are sorted out). The weather was well suited for ducks but the Mustangs and the Bearcats slogged through the pouring rain back and forth with no score through most of the first half. The Mustangs came closest to scoring with their 14 play 38-yard opening drive ending with a missed 28-yard field goal attempt.

Punts and fumble recoveries abounded as Tim Smith recovered a Mustangs fumble to keep possession on their opening drive in the first quarter and Dale Mills recovered a Bearcats fumble to give the Mustangs the ball on the their own 40-yard line in the second quarter. Zane Woodard recovered a Mustangs fumble for the Bearcats in the first quarter.

The logjam was finally and emphatically broken when Tim Smith intercepted a Bearcats pass and returned it 38-yards for a touchdown with 1:04 left in the first half. Drew Snyder’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 7-0 and the half ended shortly thereafter.

The second half began in dramatic fashion as Aaron Repman returned the opening kickoff 75-yards to the Bearcats 8-yard line for the Mustangs. Old reliable Tim Smith then blasted up the middle untouched for a touchdown and the Mustangs were up 13-0 with the clock showing 11:43.

The Bearcats then went three and out and punted to the Mustangs from their own 8-yard line. The Mustangs ended up with great field position at the Bearcats 28-yard line. A 4-play drive, featuring 3-carries for 17-yards by Aaron Repman, put the ball on the 15-yard line. Quarterback J. C. Laughlin then came up with his only pass completion of the game. He certainly made it count as he tossed a picture perfect touchdown pass to Jesse Smith in the end zone for the Mustangs. The score was 19-0 with 7:49 on the clock in the third quarter. The rest of the game was spent slogging back and forth in the quagmire.

Drew Snyder led the Mustangs with 15 tackles, followed by Jason Gigous with 14, Jesse Smith with 12, Chad LaGore and Tim Smith with 10 each, Seth Barnes, Dan Dukes, Corwyn Gordon and Jason Sneeringer with 5 each, Cody Shue with 3 tackles and a host of players with one or two tackles. Gigous was credited with 2 big pass hurries and Tim Smith and Drew Snyder each were credited with a pass defense. The fumble recovery by Dale Mills and the interception by Tim Smith were also highlights of the Mustangs vaunted defense.

Seth Barnes returned 4 punts for 24-yards, with the longest going for 20-yards, and Aaron Repman returned a punt for 34-yards for the Mustangs. Repman also returned the only kickoff the Mustangs received in the game for 75-yards. Drew Snyder kicked off 4 times for 195-yards, with the longest going for 50-yards, and he punted 7 times for 247-yards, for a 35.3-yard average, with the longest going for 43-yards for the Mustangs.

Bryan Bosley, Donnie Brady, Dan Dukes, Jason Gigous, Corwyn Gordon, Chad LaGore, Dale Mills, Cody Shue, Jesse Smith, Jason Sneeringer, Drew Snyder, Eric Updegrove and Chris Wilson manned the offensive and defensive line and linebacker positions. Seth Barnes, Aaron Repman, Duane Rowlette, Tim Smith, Mike Stremmel and Kory Yelton patrolled the secondary.

The South Western Mustangs gained 98-yards rushing and 15-yards passing for a total of 113 yards of offense for the game. J. C. Laughlin completed 1 of 5 passes for the 15-yards, and it went for the touchdown to Jesse Smith. Tim Smith led the Mustangs rushing attack with 43-yards, including an 8-yard touchdown 17 seconds into the second half, followed by Eric Updegrove with 33-yards, Aaron Repman with 17-yards, and Donnie Brady with 10-yards. Jason Gigous and J. C. Laughlin each rushed for minus yardage.

The William Penn Bearcats gained 120-yards rushing and no yards passing for the game. Mike Kinard led the Bearcats with 54-yards rushing, followed by Zane Woodard with 46-yards, Randale Preston with 29-yards and Malik Generette with minus 9-yards.

Mike Kinard returned 3 punts for 24-yards, with the longest going for 9-yards, and 3 kickoffs for 61-yards, with the longest going for 22-yards, for the Bearcats. Zane Woodard also returned a kickoff for 3-yards against the Mustangs swarming defense. Stephon Parker punted 10 times for 273-yards, for a 27.3-yard average, with the longest going for 36-yards, and Aaron Daniels kicked off once for 43-yards for the Bearcats.

The 20-member Mustangs Cheer Leading squad was very impressive as they roused the many faithful Mustangs fans among the rain soaked crowd. The Bearcats Cheer Leaders countered with a spirited crowd rousing performance. The 105-member strong South Western Mustang Marching Band and the 93-member strong Bearcats Marching Band were not able to perform their musical programs because of the weather.

The Mustangs of South Western are 8-1-0 overall and 6-0-0 in York Area Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

Don Seidenstricker has a 162-63-1 (.720) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 303-181-8. The results of the 492 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .626 winning percentage and a .632 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs close out their regular season with a visit to the Squires of Delone Catholic in an interdivisional game. The Squires are coming off of a 54-12 victory over the Spartans of York County Tech. From here it looks like the Mustangs are ready to continue their winning ways. GO MUSTANGS GO.