SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2007-4

By Bill Engelhardt
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Last Friday evening, September 14, the Mustangs of South Western hosted the Thunderbolts of Littlestown at the Mustang Corral and came away with a 27-7 victory, their 308th win as they played their 500th game in the history of the football program.

Matt Koontz got the Thunderbolts off to a great start by returning the opening kickoff 81-yards to the Mustangs 12-yard line. Three plays gained 10-yards and Corey Beaver scored on a 2-yard run. Brandon Myers kicked the extra point and the Thunderbolts were up 7-0 at the 9:23 mark in the first quarter. That turned out to be the only score the Thunderbolts would muster in the game.

Seth Barnes responded by returning the kickoff 52-yards to the Littlestown 43-yard line for the Mustangs. The Mustangs drove to the 23-yard line before turning the ball over on downs with an incomplete pass. The Thunderbolts ended up punting and the Mustangs started a drive on their own 6-yard line. Barnes ran to the 10, Pete Kudla picked up 62–yards to the 28–yard line of the Thunderbolts. John Bingham carried for no gain, Barnes picked up 10-yards and quarterback David Sager lofted a beautiful 18-yard touchdown pass to Drew Sneeringer for the Mustangs. Zak Kruger’s extra point kick tied the score at 7 with 12.9 seconds left in the first quarter.

Pete Kudla was injured on the tackle after his 62-yard run and sophomore J. R. Mummert played the rest of the first half and into the third quarter before Kudla returned. Mummert electrified the crowd with his dazzling runs and his ability to shed tacklers along the way.

Star wide receiver Jordan Staub caught 2 passes for 57-yards for the Thunderbolts, before leaving the game with an injury at the end of a 35-yard reception in the second quarter. The Thunderbolts punted after a 39-yard drive and the Mustangs were off to another 94-yard drive. This one featured a 17-yard pass from Sager to Bingham, a 13-yard pass to Marty Kefauver, and Mummert runs of 5, 2, 13, 8, 0, 5, 8, 16, and 2-yards, and his 1-yard touchdown jaunt. Kruger’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 14-7 with 30 seconds left in the half.

The second half started off with several punt exchanges and then Andrew Sells intercepted a Thunderbolts pass and returned it 12-yards for the Mustangs. From their own 42-yard line Sager completed a 15-yard pass to Bingham and a 43-yard touchdown pass to Seth Barnes. The Mustangs led 20-7 with 12.7 seconds left in the third quarter.

Seth Barnes intercepted a Thunderbolts pass to end the third quarter. The Mustangs drove 25-yards to the Thunderbolts 24-yard line and turned the ball over on downs. The Thunderbolts ended up punting and the Mustangs took over on their 47-yard line. Barnes ripped off a 28-yard run to the 25-yard line of the Thunderbolts, Bingham picked up 9 more yards, Sager completed a 10-yard pass to Barnes, and the returning Pete Kudla scored on a 6-yard run. Kruger’s extra point made the final score 27-7 with 3:27 left in the game.

Chris Helwig recorded 2 sacks and Adam Day, Chris McDonald, and Josh Rummel each had a sack for the Mustangs. Duane Rowlette defended 3 passes, Zach Hagerman defended 2, and Travis Scott defended 1. Bryan Bosley, Blair Messenger, Andrew Sells, and Derek Supel each were credited with a Pass hurry. Rowlette intercepted a pass and Andrew Sells intercepted a pass that he returned 12-yards for the Mustangs. Drew Sneeringer led the Mustangs with 10 tackles, followed by John Bingham with 8, Andrew Sells with 6, Seth Barnes, Blair Messinger and Duane Rowlette with 4 each, Adam Day, Corwyn Gordon, Chris Helwig, and Karl Maynor with 3 each, Bryan Bosley, Zach Hagerman, Zak Kruger, J. R. Mummert, Josh Rummel and Derek Supel with 2 each, and Pete Kudla, Kyle Mahorney and Chris McDonald with 1 each.

Seth Barnes returned a kickoff for 52-yards and returned a punt for 32-yards for the Mustangs. Zak Kruger kicked off 5 times for 255-yards, with the longest going for 56-yards. Daryl Grubb punted 2 times for 66-yards, for a 33-yard average, with the longest going for 35-yards 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 260-yards rushing and 135-yards passing for a total of 395- yards of offense. Pete Kudla led the Mustangs rushing attack with 9 carries for 102-yards (including a 6-yard touchdown), followed by sophomore J. R. Mummert with 17 for 74-yards (including a 1-yard touchdown), Seth Barnes with 12 for 70-yards, John Bingham with 6 for 24-yards, Duane Rowlette with no yards on a carry and quarterback David Sager with minus 10-yards on a carry. Sager completed 8 passes for 135-yards and 2 touchdowns. Barnes led the receivers with 2 passes for 53-yards, followed by Bingham with 3 for 47-yards, Drew Sneeringer with 1 for an 18-yard touchdown, and Marty Kefauver with 2 for 17-yards for the Mustangs.

The Littlestown Thunderbolts gained 27-yards rushing and 120-yards passing for a total of 147-yards of offense. Cory Beaver led the Thunderbolts rushing attack with 22-yards (including a 2-yard touchdown), followed by Matt Koontz with 5-yards, quarterback Jerrod Reynolds with 1-yard, and Tyler Fodor with minus 1-yard. Reynolds completed 5 passes for 120-yards. Jordan Staub led the receivers with 2 passes for 57-yards, followed by Garrett Bill with 1 for 29-yards, Justin Emig with 1 for 18-yards, and Fodor with 1 for 16-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 pre-game 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 Littlestown Thunderbolts Marching Band put on a rousing half-time show. The 21 member strong Mustangs Cheer Leading squad, and the Thunderbolts Cheer Leaders were very impressive.

The Mustangs of South Western are 1-2-0 overall and 0-0-0 in York Area Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

Don Seidenstricker has a 167-66-1 (.717) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 308-184-8. The results of the 500 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 begin league play and visit the Wildcats of Dallastown. Dallastown is coming off of a 27-9 loss to the Bulldogs of West York. From here it looks like the Mustangs are set to continue galloping along on the winning track. GO MUSTANGS GO.