SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2007-7

By Bill Engelhardt
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Last Friday evening, October 5, the Mustangs of South Western visited the Lions of Red Lion and were shutout 30-0. Quarterback Ethan Becker was the star of the game as he rushed for 221-yards and scored touchdowns on runs of 57 and 42-yards for the Lions. Brett Fishel added another 178-yards and touchdowns of 17 and 15-yards to seal the win.

The Lions opened the game with an impressive 4 play drive that covered 75-yards but ended with Blair Messinger recovering a Brett Fishel fumble for the Mustangs at their own 13-yard line. Six plays brought the Mustangs out to the 35-yard line, featuring runs of 9-yards by Pete Kudla and 6-yards by John Bingham, where they were forced to punt.

The Lions went 80-yards in 2 plays, runs of 23 and 57-yards by Becker, to go up 6-0 at 5:38 in the first quarter. The Lions never looked back.

The Mustangs gained 16-yards in 4 plays, featuring a 13-yard pass from quarterback David Sager to Pete Kudla, and punted. Joe Ross returned the punt 68-yards to the Mustangs 17-yard line. Fishel scored his first touchdown on the next play and he caught a 2-point conversion pass from Becker to make the score 14-0 at 3:42 in the first quarter.

The Mustangs went three and out and the Lions launched a 25-yard drive on 14 plays to the Mustangs 28-yard line. Two sacks, by Jordan Gall and Brandon Nicastro, for the Mustangs cost the Lions 18-yards and they eventually turned the ball over on downs. The Mustangs soon punted and Chris Liggitt returned it to the Mustangs 42-yard line. Becker’s 42-yard scamper on the next play, followed by his extra point kick, put the Lions up 21-0 at 5:22 in the second quarter. A sack of Becker for a 7-yard loss by the Mustangs John Bingham was the featured play in the remaining time of the first half.

The Mustangs gained 18-yards in 4 plays and punted to open the second half. The Lions then drove 38-yards on 4 plays, featuring Becker’s 40-yard scamper. Then Todd Maciejewski coffin corner punted to the Mustangs 1-yard line and John Bingham slipped and fell in the end zone to give the Lions a safety and a 23-0 lead at 7:40 in the third quarter. The Mustangs kicked to the Lions 33-yard line and Fishel ripped off a 52-yard run to the Mustangs 15-yard line. Fishel followed that with a 15-yard touchdown run and Becker’s extra point kick upped the score to 30-0 at 6:53 in the third quarter.

The never say die Mustangs held on and traded possessions. Keith Dahlheimer intercepted a pass for the Lions and Drew Sneeringer recovered a fumble for the Mustangs. Sophomore J. R. Mummert ripped off runs of 44 and 26-yards for the Mustangs in an attempt to avoid the shutout and the clock ended their drive and the game.

Duane Rowlette, Zac Scott, and Drew Sneeringer led the Mustangs defense with 9 tackles each, followed by John Bingham and Andrew Sells with 8 each, Jordan Gall, Jake Myers, and Travis Scott with 6 each, Brandon Nicastro, Josh Rummel and Derek Supel with 5 each, Seth Barnes and Chris Helwig with 4 each, Adam Day with 3, Bryan Bosley, Pete Kudla, Karl Maynor, Tyrell McCleary, and Blair Messinger with 2 each, and Corwyn Gordon, Daryl Grubb, and Zach Hagerman with 1 tackle each. Messinger and Sneeringer each recovered a fumble and Bingham, Gall and Nicastro each recorded a sack for the Mustangs. Barnes, Gordon and Travis Scott were each credited with a pass defense and Sneeringer and Supel were each credited with a pass hurry for the Mustangs.

John Bingham returned a punt for 8-yards. Seth Barnes returned 2 kickoffs for 24-yards, with the longest going for 22-yards, Levi Sager returned 1 for 18-yards, Chris Helwig returned 1 for 11-yards, and Karl Maynor returned 1 for a yard for the Mustangs. Zac Kruger kicked off 2 times, each for 55-yards, and Daryl Grubb punted 7 times for 241-yards, for a 34.4-yard average, with the longest going for 45-yards, for the Mustangs.

John Bingham, Bryan Bosley, Adam Day, Jordan Gall, Robbie Gonzalez, Corwyn Gordon, Daryl Grubb, Zach Hagerman, Chris Helwig, 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, Duane Rowlette, and Travis Scott patrolled the secondary for the Mustangs.

The Mustangs gained 151-yards rushing and 30-yards passing for 181-yards of offense. J. R. Mummert led the Mustangs rushing attack with 82-yards, including runs of 44 and 26-yards with the clock winding down in an attempt to avoid the shutout, followed by Pete Kudla with 38-yards, Seth Barnes with 17-yards, John Bingham with 9-yards, Karl Maynor with 4-yards, and David Sager with 1-yard. Quarterback Sager completed 3 passes for 30-yards, 2 for 19-yards to Kudla and 1 for 11-yards to Scott Raubenstine, for the Mustangs. Seth Barnes has 415-yards rushing, 185-yards receiving, and 331-yards in kick returns, for a total of 931 all-purpose yards for the season for the Mustangs.

The Red Lion Lions gained 451-yards rushing and 38-yards passing for a total offense of 489-yards. Quarterback Ethan Becker led the Lions rushing attack with 221-yards (including his touchdowns of 57 and 42-yards, followed by Brett Fishel with 178-yards (including his touchdowns of 17 and 15-yards), Jake Hagan with 42-yards, and Joe Ross with 10-yards. Becker completed 5 passes for 38-yards, 3 for 18-yards to Ross, 1 for 14-yards to Todd Maciejewski, and 1 for 6-yards to Taylor Dolan, for the Lions. Fishel also caught a 2-point conversion pass from Becker for the Lions.

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 pregame 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 Rockets Marching Band (The Blue Crew) entertained at half time with a rousing performance.

The Mustangs of South Western are 2-4-0 overall and 1-1-0 in York Area Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

Don Seidenstricker has a 168-68-1 (.712) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 309-186-8. The results of the 503 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .624 winning percentage and a .630 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs continue league play and host the Panthers of Central York, 4-2 overall, 1-1 YAIAA Division I. The Panthers are coming off of a 36-7 win over the hands of the Eagles of Exeter Township. From here it looks like the Mustangs will have their work cut out for them but look to get back on the winning track. GO MUSTANGS GO.