SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2006-11

By Bill Engelhardt
________

Last Friday evening, November 3, the Mustangs of South Western visited the Squires of Delone Catholic and recorded a convincing 36-0 shutout to close out the regular season. The number 2 seeded Mustangs will host the number 15 seeded Spartans of Garden Spot in the first round of the class AAA District 3 playoffs next week.

Quarterback J. C. Laughlin may have set a new school record for touchdown passes in a game with 5 (I couldn’t ascertain what the record was but no one remembers anyone ever having 5 before) and he definitely set a new record for touchdown passes in a season with 15, surpassing the record of 13 set by Matt Schmidt in 2003. His 8 touchdown passes in 2005 and 15 so far in 2006 already puts him just 1 behind the school career record of 24 held by Andy Adams. His 900-yards passing in 2005 and 898-yards so far in 2006 already puts him in 4th place on the school career passing yardage list with 1,798-yards.

Drew Snyder set a new school record for touchdown receptions in a season wuth 8, surpassing the record of 7 set by Tim Rill in 1989 and Zach Krise in 2003. His 4 touchdown receptions in 2005 and 8 so far in 2006 already places him just 1 behind the school career record of 13 held by Tim Rill. His 822 career pass reception yards to date puts him in 3rd place on the school record list. Snyder also set a new school record for field goals in a career with 18. He kicked 6 this year and his field goal of 50-yards set a new school record for distance, breaking his own record of 47-yards. His 121 career punts for 4,501-yards so far ties him for 2nd place with Rod Gross on the school career punting average list with an average of 37.2-yards.

Aaron Repman got the Mustangs off on the right foot (or is that hoof?) as he returned the opening kickoff 31-yards to the 41-yard line. Ten plays later the Mustangs were at the 19-yard line of the Squires and Drew Snyder booted a 36-yard field goal to put the Mustangs up 3-0 at 6:55 in the first quarter. The Squires then started at their 20-yard line and Duane Rowlette immediately intercepted a pass at mid field for the Mustangs. This time the Mustangs went three and out and punted and the Squires soon punted back to the Mustangs. Shortly thereafter Michael Kale intercepted for the Squires but two plays later Jason Gigous recovered a Squires fumble for the Mustangs. The Mustangs then mounted a 5 play 56-yard drive that featured a 10-yard pass from J. C. Laughlin to Donnie Brady and a 22-yard touchdown pass to Jesse Smith. Snyder’s extra point put the Mustangs up 10-0 at 9:23 in the second quarter.

The ball went back and forth on 3 punt exchanges and the Mustangs then began an 8 play 77-yard drive, featuring 11-yards on 2 carries by Gigous, 9-yards on 3 carries by old reliable Tim Smith, passes of 14 and 3-yards from Laughlin to Tim Smith and a beautiful 40-yard touchdown strike from Laughlin to Jesse Smith. Snyder’s extra point put the Mustangs up 17-0 with 44 seconds left in the first half.

The Squires opened the second half by going three and out and punted. The Mustangs got the ball at the 44-yard line of the Squires. Eric Updegrove ran to the 42 and Laughlin then lofted a 42-yard touchdown pass to Drew Snyder, whose extra point kick put the Mustangs up 24-0 at the 8:44 mark of the third quarter.

The Squires again ended up punting to the Mustangs at midfield. On the very first play, Laughlin lofted a 50-yard touchdown pass to Drew Snyder and the Mustangs led 30-0 at 7:31 in the third quarter. The Mustangs had a subsequent drive end with a just missed 46-yard field goal attempt. They soon got the ball back again when Jesse Smith intercepted a Squires pass and returned it 5-yards to the Mustangs 46-yard line. Gigous carried 7-yards to the Squires 43-yard line, Updegrove advanced to the 35 and Laughlin lofted a picture perfect strike to Mike Stremmel in the end zone for the final score. The Mustangs led 36-0 with 47 seconds left in the third quarter. Bryan Bosley and Duane Rowlette each recovered a fumble for the Mustangs to stop Squires drives in the fourth quarter. The Mustangs cleared the bench early in the fourth quarter.

Tim Smith led the Mustangs with 12 tackles, followed by Jason Gigous (he leads the Mustangs with 106 tackles for the season) and Jesse Smith with 7 each, Donnie Brady, Drew Snyder and Chris Wilson with 6 each, Chad LaGore with 5, Dan Dukes and Cody Shue with 4, and Jason Sneeringer and Eric Updegrove with 3 each. A host of players followed with one or two tackles each.

Chad Lagore was credited with a big pass hurry and Drew Snyder, Duane Rowlette, Seth Barnes, Cody Shue, Eric Updegrove, and Jesse Smith each were credited with a pass defense. Drew Snyder registered 2 sacks and Jesse Smith also registered a sack for the Mustangs. The fumble recoveries by Bryan Bosley and Jason Gigous and the interceptions by Duane Rowlette and Jesse Smith were also highlights of the Mustangs vaunted defense.

Aaron Repman returned 3 punts for 2-yards, with the longest going for 2-yards, and Tim Smith returned a punt for 7-yards for the Mustangs. Repman also returned the only kickoff the Mustangs received in the game for 31-yards. Drew Snyder kicked off 7 times for 374-yards, with the longest going for 59-yards, and he punted 2 times for 90-yards, for a 45-yard average, with the longest going for 48-yards. Daryl Grubb punted 2 times for 61-yards, for a 30.5-yard average, with the longest going for 32-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, Duane Rowlette, Tim Smith, Mike Stremmel and Kory Yelton patrolled the secondary.

The South Western Mustangs gained 129-yards rushing and 220-yards passing for a total of 349 yards of offense for the game. Jason Gigous led the Mustangs rushing attack with 51-yards, followed by Tim Smith with 47-yards, Eric Updegrove with 31-yards, Donnie Brady with 11-yards, Zac Scott with 6-yards, and Ryan Laughlin with 2-yards. Chris Helwig, Pete Kudla and quarterback J. C. Laughlin each rushed for minus yardage. Laughlin completed 8 of 14 passes for 215-yards and 5 touchdowns, and Dan Brenneman completed a pass for 5-yards. Drew Snyder caught 2 passes for 92-yards and 2 touchdowns, Jesse Smith caught 2 passes for 62-yards and 2 touchdowns, Mike Stremmel caught 1 pass for 35-yards and a touchdown, Tim Smith caught 2 passes for 16-yards, Donnie Brady caught 1 pass for 11-yards, and Chris Helwig caught 1 pass for 5-yards for the Mustangs.

The Delone Catholic Squires gained 54-yards rushing and 69-yards passing for a total of 123- yards of offense for the game. Luke Smith led the Squires with 48-yards rushing, followed by Michael Kale with 18-yards, Logan Kwedar with 13-yards, Jon Lippy with 7-yards, and quarterback Christopher Christopher Burton with minus 32-yards. Burton completed 8 passes for the 69-yards; 4 for 40-yards to Brayden Daigle, 3 for 24-yards to Michael Kale, and 1 for 5-yards to Bryan Debruin for the Squires.

Brayden Daigle returned the Mustangs only punt for 10-yards and he returned 5 kickoffs for 110-yards for an average of 22-yards, with the longest going for 29-yards, for the Squires. Joshua McNutt also returned a kickoff for 15-yards and Mark Smith returned 1 for 3-yards. Michael Kale punted 7 times for 209-yards, for a 29.9-yard average, with the longest going for 36-yards, and Miles Moore kicked off once for 50-yards for the Bearcats.

The 19-member Mustangs Cheer Leading squad was very impressive as they roused the many faithful Mustangs fans among the crowd. The Squires Cheer Leaders countered with a spirited crowd rousing performance.

The 105 member strong South Western Mustang Marching Band, 9-time Cavalcade of Bands Champion, a 2000 Tournament of Bands Champion and US Scholastic Band Champion provided the half time entertainment with the 2006 musical program entitled “Colourful Rythms,” which featured musical themes from the Millennium Celebration at Epcot Center, including “Time Prologue,” “Chaos,” “Life” and “Celebration.” Then followed the main theme from the Cirque du Soleil production, “Journey of Man” and “Tribal Mustang.” The closing number was a “lilting” Irish melody leading to the majestic strains of “We Go On.” The 46 member strong Squires Marching Band entertained after the game with the theme “Reflections.” The show featured three movements: “Reflections of Form,” “Reflections of Sound,” and “Reflections of Light.”

The Mustangs of South Western are 9-1-0 overall and 7-0-0 in York Area Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

Don Seidenstricker has a 163-63-1 (.721) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 304-181-8. The results of the 493 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .627 winning percentage and a .633 non-losing percentage.

Next week the number 2 seeded Mustangs will host the number 15 seeded Spartans of Garden Spot in the first round of the District 3 playoffs. The Spartans (5-5 overall, 3-4 Lancaster-Lebanon League Division II) are coming off of a 14-10 loss to the Mountaineers of Ephrata. From here it looks like the Mustangs are ready to continue their winning ways and move on in the playoff hunt. GO MUSTANGS GO.