SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2007-1

Preseason Review

By Bill Engelhardt
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The 2006 York-Adams Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division 1 Champion, AAA District III Runner-up and Hanover City Cup Champion Mustangs of South Western return to gridiron action Friday night, August 31, as they visit the Warriors of Gettysburg to kick off the 2007 season. The Mustangs are coming off of an exceptional 12-2 overall season in 2006 and are looking ahead to a successful season. They have a career 307-182-8 record with a .628 winning percentage and a .634 non-losing percentage. They are 303-174-8 in regular season play. This year the Mustangs have a good group of returning starters and lettermen and promising new players to watch, and hope to continue the winning tradition, which includes ten league titles since 1990 and 14 in the history of the school.

Seniors Seth Barnes, Corwyn Gordon, Marty Kefauver, Duane Rowlette and Kory Yelton are returning starters. Other returning lettermen are seniors John Bingham, Bryan Bosley, Dan Brenneman, Daryl Grubb, Chris McDonald and Blair Messinger and junior Chris Helwig. Senior Josh Rummel and juniors Adam Day, Jordan Gall, Brandon Myers, Brandon Nicastro, David Sager, Zac Scott, Andrew Sells, Drew Sneeringer and Wes Trostle are up and comers to watch this year.

The graduation of quarterback J.C. Laughlin leaves that pivotal position wide open, with Dan Brenneman and David Sager leading the pack. The loss of at least ten key players to graduation leaves many positions open to competition. We look for Barnes, Bingham, Helwig and up and comer Scott to continue the great running tradition of the Mustangs. We hope for an exciting receiving corps to emerge from among Kefauver, Rowlette, Yelton and up and comers Nicastro, Rummel and Sneeringer.

Gordon, Kefauver, Bingham, Bosley, Brenneman, Grubb, McDonald, Messinger and Helwig all should figure prominently at the lines and line backer positions, with a lot of help from up and comers Day, Gall, Myers, Nicastro, Rummel, Scott, Sells, Sneeringer and Trostle. Barnes, Rowlette, Sager and Yelton should all see plenty of action in the secondary. Among the returning players, Gordon led the defense with 58 tackles last year, followed by Barnes with 51, Rowlette with 44 and Bosley with 19.

Don Seidenstricker is going into his 30th year with the Mustang program and has a 166-64-1 (.722) record as he goes into his 22nd year as head coach. Don is ready to lead the hard charging Mustangs against the Gettysburg Warriors. In his preseason outlook he said, “2006 was an exceptional “Mustang” football season. For the fourteenth time in school history South Western won a League Title and had a post-season run in the playoffs that ended in Hersheypark Stadium in the PIAA District III “AAA” Final. Along the way the Mustangs posted impressive playoff wins against Garden Spot, Susquehanna Township, and perennial District III power Manheim Central.

While numbers of players on the roster will continue to be high, there will be a lot of competition as most positions are open. If South Western expects to field a team that rivals 2006, this year’s group will have to invest a considerable amount of time in the off-season preparing for a highly competitive schedule. So far the outlook is bright, participation in the weight room has been solid and another large contingent (52 players) participated in team camp at Shippensburg University. The outcome of early season challenges in scrimmages with Cumberland Valley and 2006 District III Champion Red Land, followed by an opening game with the best Gettysburg Club in many years, will dictate the Mustangs course for the season.

From here it looks like the South Western Mustangs are anxious to reprime the pump after a large turnover of key personnel and thrill and excite their fans with another effective and balanced offense. I am thrilled with anticipation for the start of the 2007 season. GO MUSTANGS GO.