SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2008-4

By Bill Engelhardt
________

Last Friday evening, September 12, the Mustangs of South Western hosted the Eagles of Bermudian Springs at the Mustang Corral and the soaring Eagles edged out a 10-7 hard fought victory. Eric Caldwell kicked a 25-yard game winning field goal for the Eagles with 24.4 seconds left in the game.

The Eagles went 3 and out and punted to start the game and the Mustangs marched 26-yards in 5 plays before Jacob Stimer intercepted a Mustangs pass to end that threat. Stimer had 2 interceptions in the game. The weather was rainy, the field was a quagmire, and the going was tough for most of the game. The Mustangs were still able to march up and down the field but turned the ball over 6 times, 3 times on fumbles and 3 times on interceptions, to stymie many a drive.

The Mustangs launched a 9-play 66-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter. The drive featured 5 runs by J. R. Mummert, who scored on a 4-yard run. Zac Kruger’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 7-0 with 29 seconds left in the first half.

Derek Mummert recovered a Mustang fumble, he had 2 fumble recoveries and an interception in the game, and the Eagles had the ball on their own 49-yard line. A 7-play drive, featuring a nifty 48-yard pass Derek Mummert to the 2-yard line from quarterback Jordan Selfe, ended with Mummert’s 1-yard touchdown plunge. Eric Caldwell kicked the extra point and the game was tied at 7 with 38 seconds left in the third quarter.

Jacob Stimer intercepted his second pass of the game in the third quarter for the Eagles to end another promising Mustang drive. A 13-yard Eagles drive, featuring a 20-yard pass from Selfe to Stimer and several plays for losses ended up turning the ball over to the Mustangs on downs. The Mustangs drove from their 28-yard line to the Eagles 15-yard line, only to fumble and have Derek Mummert recover his second fumble for the Eagles. The Eagles then launched an 8 play 85-yard scoring drive, featuring a 46-yard ramble by the indomitable Derek Mummert. The drive ended with the game winning 25-yard field goal by Eric Caldwell.

Jake Myers led the defense with 16 tackles, a sack and a pass hurry, Chris Helwig had 8 tackles and a pass defense, Alex Berwager and Drew Sneeringer had 7 tackles, Adam Day, Jimmy Nicklas and Zac Scott each had 6 tackles, Derek Supel had 5 tackles and 3 pass hurries, Andrew Sells had 5 tackles, Jake Shaffer had 4 tackles, Brandon Nicastro had 3 tackles, Kyle King, Kyle Mahorney and Levi Sager each had 2 tackles, and Zak Kruger, Dan Laird and Colby Fuhrman each had 1 tackle for the Mustangs.

Tyrell McCleary returned 2 kickoffs for 41-yards and Chris Helwig returned a kickoff for 23-yards for the Mustangs. Zak Kruger kicked off 2 times for 94-yards, with the longest going for 50-yards. Jake Myers punted 1 time for 28-yards for the Mustangs.

Zac Scott, Adam Day, Colby Fuhrman, Jordan Gall, Chris Helwig, Dan Laird, Kyle Mahorney, Jake Myers, Brandon Nicastro, Andrew Sells, Jake Shaffer, Drew Sneeringer, Derek Supel, and Wes Trostle manned the offensive and defensive line and linebacker positions. Alex Berwager, Kyle King, Jimmy Nicklas and Levi Sager patrolled the secondary.

The Mustangs gained 200-yards rushing and 47-yards passing for a total of 247- yards of offense. J. R. Mummert led the Mustangs rushing attack with 26 carries for 112-yards (including the 4-yard touchdown), followed by Chris Helwig with 9 carries for 60-yards, Zac Scott with 2 carries for 16-yards, Jeb Shipley with 3 carries for 9-yards, and David Sager with 3 carries for 3-yards. David Sager completed 4 passes for the 47-yards. Drew Sneeringer led the receivers with 2 receptions for 24-yards, followed by Kyle Mahorney with 1 for 15-yards, and Chris Helwig with 1 for 8-yards for the Mustangs.

The Eagles gained 145-yards rushing and 111-yards passing for a total of 256-yards of offense. Preston Green led the Eagles rushing attack with 12 carries for 79-yards followed by Derek Mummert with 17 for 67-yards, Jeisson Lloret with 3 for 9-yards, Adam Stroup with 1 for 2-yards, and Jordan Selfe with 5 carries minus 12-yards. Quarterback Selfe completed 6 passes for the 111-yards, 3 for 59-yards to Jacob Stimer, 2 for 48-yards to Derek Mummert (including the 1-yard touchdown), and 1 for 4-yards to Stroup, for the Eagles.

The 93 member 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 half time showfrom the sidelines, because of the rainy weather and field conditions, entitled “B-Classical” and featuring the energetic rhythms of Bernstein, passionate melodies of Borodini, and empowering harmony of Bizet. The 33 member Bermudian Springs Eagles Marching Band put on a spirited half-time show featuring tunes from the “Streets of London: Music of Stephen Sondheim.” The 23 member strong Mustangs Cheer Leading squad, and the Eagles Cheer Leaders were very impressive in the rainy conditions.

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 170-73-1 (.700) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 311-191-8. The results of the 510 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .620 winning percentage and a .625 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs begin league action and host the Eagles of Dover, a new edition to Division I this year. Dover is coming off of a 28-7 loss to the Squires of Delone Catholic. From here it looks like the Mustangs are set to resume their winning ways. GO MUSTANGS GO.