SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2006-13

By Bill Engelhardt
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Last Friday evening, November 17, the number 2 seeded Mustangs of South Western hosted the number 7 seeded Indians of Susquehanna Township in the quarterfinal round of the class AAA District 3 playoffs and eked out a 35-34 victory in a thriller. Old reliable Tim Smith was the star of the game with 5 touchdowns (4 rushing with runs of 7, 1, 57 and 5-yards and 1 on a 29-yard pass reception). Smith has 1 interception return, 18 rushing, and 3 receiving touchdowns for the season. His 21 touchdowns tie him with Andrew Kern (2000) and Joe Myers (1991) for first place in the school record book. His 128 points scored for the season puts him in 2nd place behind Andrew Kern’s 132 points in 2000.

Quarterback J. C. Laughlin has set new school records with 18 touchdown passes for the season and 26 for his career. His 1,152-yards passing so far in 2006 already puts him in 2nd place for season passing yardage, 36-yards behind the record of 1,188-yards set by Doug Seidenstricker in 1990. His 900-yards passing in 2005 and 1,152-yards so far in 2006 already puts him in 3rd place on the school career passing yardage list with 2,052-yards.

The Mustangs opened the game with a 6 play 67-yard touchdown drive that featured 2 runs for 4-yards by Jason Gigous, a 49-yard pass from Laughlin to Drew Snyder, a 2-yard run by Eric Updegrove, a 19-yard run by Tim Smith and a 7-yard touchdown jaunt by Tim Smith. The extra point kick was missed and the Mustangs were up 6-0 at 9:40 in the first quarter. After an exchange of punts the Mustangs started another 6-play 67-yard touchdown drive. Featured plays were Laughlin’s passes of 27 and 32-yards to Jesse Smith and Tim Smiths 1-yard touchdown plunge. A 2-point conversion pass from Laughlin to Jesse Smith upped the score to 14-0 with 1:59 left in the first quarter.

The Indians went three and out and punted. The Mustangs then went on a 3 play 70-yard scoring drive that featured Eric Updegrove’s 15-yard jaunt and Tim Smith’s beautiful 57-yard touchdown run. The extra point kick was missed and the Mustangs were up 20-0 at the 11:12 point of the second quarter.

The Indians then came to life with an 80-yard 9-play drive. The drive featured runs of 17 and 9 yards by sophomore sensation Gabriel Oliver, a 26-yard pass from Quarterback Anthony Wagner to Kirk Peters, a 25-yard pass from Wagner to Oliver and a 7-yard touchdown strike from Wagner to Peters. A 5-yard penalty and a loss of 11-yards didn’t stop the drive, and the score was 20-7 in favor of the Mustangs at 7:17 in the second quarter.

After an exchange of punts the Mustangs took off on a 7 play 59-yard drive. This drive featured a 5-yard run by Gigous, a 4-yard run by Tim Smith, a no gain run by Smith, a 4-yard pass from Laughlin to Drew Snyder, and a 29-yard touchdown pass from Laughlin to Tim Smith. Snyder’s extra point kick upped the score to 27-7 with 1:05 left in the half.

The second half opened with an exchange of punts and then the Indians mounted a 5 play 52-yard drive. Quarterback Anthony Wagner ripped off a 26-yard run, Obinna Rajis added another 9-yards, a 5-yard penalty against the Indians followed and then Oliver gained 6-yards and Rajis gained 15-yards to the 1-yard line. Wagner’s 1-yard touchdown plunge and Carlin Carter’s extra point kick narrowed the score to 27-14 at 5:46 in the third quarter. Ashton Burno recovered a Mustangs fumble at their 11-yard line to put the Indians right back in business and 4 plays later Wagner tossed an 8-yard touchdown pass to Kirk Peters. Carter’s extra point kick made the score 27-21 at 2:24 in the third quarter.

The Mustangs countered with a 10 play 65-yard drive. This drive featured 4 sweeps around the end for 56-yards by Updegrove, with pulling guard Chad LaGore leading the way. Tim Smith’s 5-yard touchdown run and Laughlin’s 2-point conversion pass to Tim Smith upped the score to 35-21 at the 10:12 point in the 4th quarter.

The Indians then made it very interesting with a 4 play 51-yard drive. Wagner’s 25-yard pass to Oliver was followed by Oliver’s 25-yard touchdown jaunt and Carter’s extra point kick narrowed the score to 35-28 with 8:30 left in the game. The Mustangs went three and out and the Indians went on a 6 play 64-yard drive, aided by a 10-yard penalty. The drive featured a 19-yard run by Wynton Williams and another 1-yard touchdown plunge by Wagner. The plucky Indians were going to go for the win with a 2-point conversion but a penalty put them back to the 8-yard line. The snap for an extra point attempt was botched and Carlin Carter managed to complete a pass to Kirk Peters who was stopped on a game saving tackle short of the goal line by Tim Smith and the Mustangs preserved a 35-34 lead with 4:56 left in the game.

The Indians last hope ended with 24 seconds left in the game when Drew Snyder broke up a 4th down pass attempt and the Mustangs ran out the clock.

Jason Gigous and Tim Smith led the Mustangs with 12 tackles each (Gigous leads the Mustangs with an unofficial total of 130 tackles for the season, unofficial because the film is still under review for the defensive stats for one game), followed by Jesse Smith with 11, Chris Wilson with 10, Seth Barnes with 8, Drew Snyder with 7, Jason Sneeringer with 6, Chad LaGore with 4, and Dan Dukes, Corwyn Gordon and Dale Mills with 3 each. A host of players followed with one or two tackles each. 130 tackles would put Gigous in 2nd place on the school record list for tackles in a season, behind Justin Mummert’s 145. Corwyn Gordon’s big sack and big pass breakups by Chris Wilson and Drew Snyder were highlights in the Mustangs defensive effort, which caused the Indians to misfire on 8 of their 13 passes.

Seth Barnes returned 2 punts for 11-yards, with the longest going for 11-yards, and a kickoff for 10-yards, Aaron Repman returned a punt for no yards and a kickoff for 27-yards, Donnie Brady returned a kickoff for 9-yards, and Tim Smith returned a kickoff for 5-yards. Drew Snyder kicked off 7 times for 372-yards, including 2 touchbacks, and he punted 5 times for 147-yards, for a 29.4-yard average, with the longest going for 39-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 181-yards rushing and 134-yards passing for a total of 315 yards of offense for the game. Tim Smith led the Mustangs rushing attack with 109-yards and 4 touchdowns, followed by Eric Updegrove with 74-yards, Jason Gigous with 5-yards, J. C. Laughlin with no gain, and Donnie Brady with minus 7-yards. Quarterback Laughlin completed 7 of 12 passes for the 134-yards (Giving him 1,152-yards for the season), including the 29-yard touchdown to Tim Smith, 3 passes for 45-yards to Drew Snyder, 2 for 59-yards to Jesse Smith, and 1 for 1-yard to Eric Updegrove for the Mustangs.

The Susquehanna Township Indians gained 232-yards rushing and 73-yards passing for a total of 305- yards of offense for the game. Gabriel Oliver led the Indians rushing attack with 114-yards, including a 25-yard touchdown, followed by Obinna Rajis with 56-yards, Anthony Wagner with 32-yards, Wynton Williams with 32-yards, and Xavier Garfield with minus 2-yards. Quarterback Anthony Wagner completed 5 passes for 73-yards, including the 2 touchdowns to Kirk Peters (who caught 3 passes for 42-yards), and 2 for 31-yards to Gabriel Oliver for the Indians.

The 18-member Mustangs Cheer Leading squad was very impressive as they roused the many faithful Mustangs fans among the spirited hometown crowd. The Indians Cheer Leaders countered with a crowd rousing performance for the many faithful fans that made the long trip to the Mustang Corral.

The 110 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 pre-game 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 Indians Marching Band provided a moving halftime program.

The Mustangs of South Western are 11-1-0 overall and 7-0-0 in York Area Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

Don Seidenstricker has a 165-63-1 (.724) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 306-181-8. The results of the 495 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .628 winning percentage and a .634 non-losing percentage.

Next week the number 2 seeded Mustangs will host the number 6 seeded Barons of Manheim Central in the semifinals of the District 3 playoffs. The Barons (11-1 overall, 6-1 Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 2) are coming off of a 26-19 overtime victory over the Blazers of Daniel Boone. From here it looks like the Mustangs are ready to continue their winning ways and move on to the District 3 AAA Championship in the playoff hunt. GO MUSTANGS GO.