SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2007-10

By Bill Engelhardt
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Last Saturday evening, October 27, the Mustangs of South Western visited the den of the Bearcats of York (William Penn) and played them even up for a 14-14 tie at the half, but fell 41-14 as the Bearcats pulled away in the second half. The Bearcats clinched at least a share of the Division I title, and put themselves solidly in the class AAAA District Playoffs.

The Mustangs started off like a house on fire on the first play from scrimmage as Duane Rowlette intercepted a Bearcats pass by Malik Generett and returned it 65-yards for a touchdown. Zak Kruger’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 7-0 just 21 seconds into the game.

The Bearcats then kept the ball for 1 play before Karl Maynor recovered a fumble for the Mustangs, who then ripped off a 7-play drive that ended with a missed 44-yard field goal attempt. The Bearcats gained a yard on a run and then Jordan Davis connected with Robert Richardson on a 72-yard touchdown pass. Ethan Fair’s extra point kick tied the game at 7 at 7:01 in the first quarter.

The Mustangs went three and out and punted, the Bearcats turned the ball over on downs, the Mustangs punted again and the Bearcats attempted a punt but a bad snap gave the Mustangs the ball on the Bearcats 24-yard line. Three plays and a penalty later a 46-yard field goal attempt by the Mustangs was blocked. The Bearcats got the ball at midfield and Davis completed a 38-yard pass to Kevin Kearse, followed by Brandon Walker’s 12-yard touchdown run. Fair’s extra point kick put the Bearcats up 14-7 at 8:21 in the second quarter,

The Mustangs began a drive at their 35-yard line. David Sager completed a 39-yard pass to Chris Helwig; sophomore J. R. Mummert gained 3-yards on 2 carries, and Sager threw a 23-yard touchdown strike to John Bingham. Kruger’s extra point kick knotted the score at 14 with 6:32 to go in the half, and that was the score at the half. The Mustangs had gone toe to toe with the vaunted Bearcats and came out even.

The second half belonged to the Bearcats. Mike Kinard scored on a 46-yard run early in the third quarter and Davis connected with Robert Richardson on a 12-yard touchdown pass. The score was 28-14 going into the final quarter. Richardson intercepted a Mustangs pass and returned it 41-yards for a Bearcats touchdown with 9:23 to go in the game. That pretty much sealed the victory but Brandon Walker tacked on a 6-yard touchdown run with 2:03 to go to make the final score 41-14 after Fair’s 5th extra point kick.

Duane Rowlette and John Bingham led the Mustangs with 7 tackles each, followed by Drew Sneeringer with 6, Karl Maynor, Jordan Gall and Brandon Nicastro with 5 each, Andrew Sells, Corwyn Gordon, Derek Supel, and Josh Rummel with 4 each, Jake Myers, Zach Hagerman, Adam Day, and Blair Messinger with 3 each, Cody Mundorff, Chris Helwig, Travis Scott, and Chris McDonald with 2 each, and Tyrell McCleary and Zac Scott with 1 tackle each. Supel, Sneeringer and Nicastro were each credited with a sack. Rowlette was credited with 2 pass defenses, Mundorff and Maynor were each credited with a pass defense, Maynor recovered a fumble and Rowlette returned the interception for the 65-yard touchdown for the Mustangs.

Chris Helwig returned 2 kickoffs for 30-yards, Karl Maynor returned 2 for 28-yards, and John Bingham returned 1 for 8-yards for the Mustangs. Daryl Grubb punted 4 times for 94-yards, for a 23.5-yard average, and Jake Myers punted 2 times for 75-yards, for a 37.5-yard average. Zak Kruger kicked off 3 times for 137-yards, with the longest going for 53-yards, for the Mustangs.

John Bingham, 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. Karl Maynor, Cody Mundorff, Duane Rowlette, and Travis Scott patrolled the secondary for the Mustangs.

The Mustangs gained 102-yards rushing and 170-yards passing for 272-yards of offense. Zac Scott led the Mustangs rushing attack with 45-yards, followed by J. R. Mummert with 22-yards, Ryan Laughman with 15-yards, Mike Brant with 12-yards, John Bingham with 3-yards, and Chris Helwig and David Sager with minus 1-yard each. Quarterback Sager completed 16 passes for 170-yards and a touchdown, 4 for 64-yards to Bingham (including a 23-yard touchdown), 2 for 48-yards to Helwig, 4 for 38-yards to Drew Sneeringer, 2 for 7-yards to Zac Scott, 2 for 5-yards to Marty Kefauver, 1 for 4-yards to Duane Rowlette, and 1 for 4-yards to Karl Maynor, for the Mustangs. Rowlette returned the interception 65-yards for a touchdown and Maynor recovered a fumble for the Mustangs.

The William Penn Bearcats gained 141-yards rushing and 249 yards passing for 390-yards of offense. Mike Kinard led the Bearcats rushing attack with 87-yards (including a 46-yard touchdown), followed by Wilfredo Martinez and Brandon Walker (who had touchdown runs of 12 and 6-yards) with 25-yards each, Robert Richardson with 13-yards, Carl Barnes with 7-yards, Jordan Davis with 3-yards, and the team lost 19-yards on a bad snap on a punt attempt. Quarterback Davis completed 9 passes for 249-yards and 2 touchdowns, 2 for 84-yards to Richardson (for touchdowns of 72 and 12-yards), 3 for 82-yards to Malik Generett, 2 for 48-yards to Kevin Kearse, 1 for 28-yards to Joe Kennedy, and 1 for 7-yards to Barnes, for the Bearcats. Richardson also returned the interception 41-yards for a touchdown, Newt Miller intercepted a pass and returned it 27-yards, and Walker recovered a fumble for the Bearcats.

Mike Kinard returned 2 punts for 27-yards, with the longest going for 14-yards, and Robert Richardson returned 3 kickoffs for 55-yards, with the longest going for 28-yards, for the Bearcats. Jordan Davis punted 1 time for 25-yards, Malik Generett kicked off 6 times for 311-yards, including 1 touchback, for the Bearcats.

Meanwhile, back at the Mustang Corral, the 9-time Cavalcade of Bands Champions, Tournament of Bands Group IV Champion and US Scholastic Band Champion South Western Mustangs Marching Band hosted a Cavalcade of Bands Competition featuring 11 high school bands. As host, the Mustangs Marching Band performed their stirring show entitled “City Symphonique: The Sights and Sounds of New York City” in exhibition. Their Broadway show has already resulted in wins in 4 competitions this season, leading up to a competition in Red Lion and then the championships in Hershey. 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 Bearcats Marching Band entertained at half time with a great performance. The 21 Mustangs cheerleaders enthusiastically roused the faithful.

The Mustangs of South Western are 2-7-0 overall and 1-5-0 in York Area Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

Don Seidenstricker has a 168-71-1 (.703) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 309-189-8. The results of the 506 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .621 winning percentage and a .627 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs close out their regular season by hosting the Squires of Delone Catholic in an interdivisional game at the Mustang Corral. The Squires are coming off of a 41-0 victory over the Spartans of York County Tech. From here it looks like the Mustangs are ready to end the season on a winning note. GO MUSTANGS GO.