SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2007-3

By Bill Engelhardt
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Last Friday evening, September 8, the Mustangs of South Western visited the Warriors of Susquehannock and were edged 26-21 in a thriller that wasn’t decided until the Warriors gained a first down by inches on a 4th down and inches with less than a minute to go. Mike Kelly’s 132-yards rushing and three touchdowns spearheaded the victory for the Warriors.

The Mustangs punted on their first possession and the Warriors put on a 65-yard, 5 play drive that ended in Mike Kelly’s 21-yard touchdown scamper. John Bingham blocked the extra point kick for the Mustangs and the Warriors led 6-0 at the 8:50 mark in the first quarter. The Mustangs and the Warriors each punted on their next possessions.

The Mustangs then struck pay dirt as David Sager launched a beautiful 80-yard touchdown pass to Seth Barnes. The pass was in the air for an estimated 50-yards and Barnes carried it the remaining 30-yards for the score. Zak Kruger’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 7-6 at the 3:03 point in the first quarter.

Duane Rowlette intercepted a pass and returned it 12-yards for the Mustangs to stop the Warriors next drive. After several punt exchanges, the Warriors sustained a 69-yard 5-play drive that featured a 40-yard touchdown scamper by Mike Kelly. John Bingham again blocked the extra point kick for the Mustangs and the Warriors led 12-7 with 2:22 to go in the first half.

The Warriors marched 55-yards in three plays on the opening drive of the second half, featuring a 5-yard run by Corey Shelton, a 2-yard run by Mike Kelly, and a 48-yard touchdown scamper by Shelton. Pat Miller passed to Mike Kelly for the 2-point conversion and the Warriors led 20-7 at 10:37 in the third quarter.

Karl Maynor returned the Warriors kickoff 45-yards to the Warriors 40-yard line and David Sager lofted a 40-yard touchdown strike to Marty Kefauver for the Mustangs. Kruger’s extra point closed the gap to 20-14 in favor of the Warriors at 10:18 in the third quarter. Cody Mundorff recovered a Warriors fumble for the Mustangs at the Warriors 37-yard line. Pete Kudla ran for 10-yards, Sager ran for 2-yards, and Seth Barnes ran it in from 25-yards out for the Mustangs. Kruger’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 21-20 at 8:59 in the third quarter.

After an exchange of punts, the Warriors launched a 57-yard, 2 play drive, ending with Mike Kelly’s 46-yard touchdown run. The extra point attempt failed and the Warriors led 26-21 with 5:55 left in the third quarter.

The rest of the game went back and forth as the defenses dug in. Josh Rummel recovered a Warriors fumble for the Mustangs. The first down by inches on 4th and inches by the Warriors sealed the game with less than a minute to go in a game that provided plenty of thrills and excitement for the fans on both sides of the field.

Duane Rowlette led the Mustangs with 8 tackles, followed by Zach Hagerman with 7, John Bingham Chris Helwig, and Blair Messinger with 6 each, Drew Sneeringer and Derek Supel with 4 each, Karl Maynor and Jake Myers with 3 each, Corwyn Gordon, Chris McDonald, John Neiderer, Josh Rummel, Zac Scott, and Andrew Sells with 2 each, and Seth Barnes, Bryan Bosley, Jordan Gall, Daryl Grubb, Cody Mundorff, J. R. Mummert, and Levi Sager with 1 each. Zach Hagerman was credited with a sack and Chris McDonald blocked a pass for the Mustangs.

Seth Barnes returned 2 kickoffs for 39-yards, with the longest going for 21-yards, and 2 punts for 13-yards, with the longest going for 13-yards; Karl Maynor returned 2 kickoffs for 63-yards, with the longest going for 45-yards; and Duane Rowlette returned a punt for 2-yards for the Mustangs. Daryl Grubb punted 6 times for 221-yards, for a 36.8-yard average, with the longest going for 41-yards. Zak Kruger kicked off 4 times for 218-yards and 2 touchbacks for the Mustangs.

John Bingham, Bryan Bosley, Adam Day, Jordan Gall, Corwyn Gordon, Daryl Grubb, Zach Hagerman, Chris Helwig, Chris McDonald, Blair Messinger, Josh Rummel, Zac Scott, Andrew Sells, Drew Sneeringer, and Derek Supel manned the offensive and defensive line and linebacker positions. Seth Barnes, Karl Maynor, Cody Mundorff and Duane Rowlette patrolled the secondary.

The Mustangs gained 185-yards rushing and 175-yards passing for a total of 360 yards of offense. Seth Barnes led the rushing attack with 11 carries for 94-yards and a touchdown, followed by Pete Kudla with 15 for 76-yards, Chris Helwig with 3 for 10-yards, John Bingham with 1 for 8-yards, Duane Rowlette with 1 for 1-yard, and David Sager with 6 carries for minus 4-yards. Sager completed 9 passes for the 175-yards and a touchdown. Barnes led the receivers with 3 receptions for 89-yards and a touchdown, followed by Marty Kefauver with 3 for 63-yards and a touchdown, Cody Mundorff with 2 for 16-yards and Helwig with 1 reception for 7-yards.

The Susquehannock Warriors gained 269-yards rushing and 72-yards passing for a total of 341-yards of offense. The rushing attack was led by Mike Kelley with his 14 carries for 132-yards and 3 touchdowns, followed by Corey Shelton with 6 for 80-yards and a touchdown, Jordan Robertson with 3 for 23-yards, Ben Norris with 3 for 22-yards, Jimmy Hershey with 4 for 18-yards, and Patrick Miller with 5 carries for minus 6-yards. Miller completed 5 passes for the 72-yards, spread among 5 receivers: Norris for 17-yards, Shelton with 17, Dakota Heath with 15, Hershey with 13-yards, and Tyler Ward with 10-yards.

The 9-time Cavalcade of Bands Champions, Tournament of Bands Group IV Champion and US Scholastic Band Champion South Western Mustangs Marching Band put on a stirring half-time show, entitled “City Symphonique: The Sights and Sounds of New York City.” The show featured opening themes depicting the “hustle and bustle” of the city, followed by “New York, New York,” “Wonderful Town,” “On Broadway,” and Lullaby on Broadway.” The Susquehannock Warriors Marching Band put on a rousing pre-game show. The 20 strong Mustangs Cheer Leading squad, and the Warriors Cheer Leaders were very impressive as they roused the faithful.

The Mustangs of South Western are 0-2-0 overall and 0-0-0 in York Area Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

Don Seidenstricker has a 166-66-1 (.716) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 307-184-8. The results of the 499 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .625 winning percentage and a .631 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs host the Thunderbolts of Littlestown. Littlestown is coming off of a 40-7 victory over the Rams of Kennard-Dale. From here it looks like the Mustangs, who have vastly improved during the first two weeks of the season, are raring to gallop and expect to resume their winning ways. GO MUSTANGS GO.