SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2009-10

By Bill Engelhardt
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Last Friday evening, October 30, the Mustangs of South Western hosted the Bearcats of York High (William Penn) at the Mustang Corral and came away with a 28-0 shutout. The electrifying Levi Sager made another one of his patented scampers for a 48-yard touchdown, Kyle King rang in with a 19-yard touchdown jaunt, and Ian Smith tossed two more touchdown passes, each for 13-yards, to Kyle Mahorney and Mike Felton, for the Mustangs.

The defenses reigned supreme at the start as the Bearcats punted twice and the Mustangs punted once. Levi Sager returned the Bearcats second punt 23-yards to the Bearcats 43-yard. Six plays later King’s 19-yard touchdown scamper and Smith’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 7-0 with 2:56 left in the first quarter.

Each team punted again and then the Bearcats drove 33-yards to the Mustangs 27-yard line. A 44-yard field goal attempt failed. The Mustangs then drove 56-yards in ten play, featuring a 24-yard run by Smith and a 13-yard pass by Smith to King, only to turn the ball over on downs at the Bearcats 24-yard line. Each team punted again and the first half came to an end.

The Mustangs opened the second half with a 13 play 50-yard drive, featuring a 14-yard pass from Smith to Jimmy Nicklas. A 30-yard field goal attempt failed.

After two more punts by the Bearcats, sandwiching a Mustangs punt, the Mustangs took over at the Bearcats 14-yard line after another good return from Sager. Three plays later Smith’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Mahorney and his extra point kick put the Mustangs up 14-0 with 11:06 left in the fourth quarter.

King returned a Bearcats punt for 13-yards to the Bearcats 48-yard line. Sager then launched his 48-yard touchdown scamper and Smith’s extra point kick upped the score to 21-0 with 9:27 left in the game.

The Bearcats punted again and the Mustangs marched 63-yards in 8 plays, featuring a 38-yard gallop by Mike Felton, and ending with Smith’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Felton. Smith’s extra point kick closed out the scoring and put the Mustangs up 28-0 with 4:19 left in the game.

Jake Myers led the Mustangs defense with 10 tackles, followed by Cody Fricke, Kyle Mahorney and Jake Shaffer with 6 tackles each, Colby Fuhrman, Tyrell McCleary and Ryan Sexton with 4 tackles each, Aaron Bosley, Kyle King and Dan Laird with 3 tackles each, Jimmy Nicklas, Tommy Nicklas and Levi Sager with 2 tackles each, and Brady Conroy, Mike Felton, Matt Funk and David Messinger with 1 tackle each. Myers recorded a sack, King, Jimmy Nicklas, and Shaffer were each credited with a pass defense and Matt Funk, Myers, Sexton, Shaffer, and Billy Utz were each credited with a pass hurry, for the Mustangs.

Tyrell McCleary returned 1 kickoff 21-yards and 1 punt for 3-yards. Levi Sager returned 4 punts for 53-yards, with the longest going for 23-yards, and Kyle King returned 1 punt for 22-yards for the Mustangs. Norton Redding kicked off 5 times for 216-yards, with the longest going for 46-yards for the Mustangs. Mike Felton punted 5 times for 154-yards, with the longest going for 41-yards, for the Mustangs.

Aaron Bosley, Mason Brady, Mike Felton, Cody Fricke, Colby Fuhrman, Dan Laird, Kyle Mahorney, David Messinger, Jake Myers, Ryan Sexton, Jake Shaffer, Billy Utz, and Anthony Wildasin manned the offensive and defensive line and linebacker positions, with help from Brady Conroy, Matt Funk and Leonard Sturgis. Kyle King, Tyrell McCleary, Jimmy Nicklas, and Levi Sager patrolled the secondary for the Mustangs.

The Mustangs gained 258-yards rushing and 90-yards passing for a total of 348- yards of offense. Levi Sager led the Mustangs rushing attack with 13 carries for 89-yards (including a 48-yard touchdown), followed by J. R. Mummert with 18 carries for 59-yards, Kyle King with 9 carries for 45-yards (including a 19-yard touchdown), Mike Felton with 1 carry for 38-yards, Ian Smith with 3 carries for 26-yards, Bobby Porter with 1 carry for 1-yard, and Tyrell McCleary with 1 carry for no yards. Quarterback Smith completed 11 of 18 passes for 90-yards and 2 touchdowns, 5 for 35-yards to Jimmy Nicklas, 2 for 23-yards to Felton (including a 13-yard touchdown), 2 for 23-yards to King, 1 for 13-yards and a touchdown to Kyle Mahorney, and 1 for minus 4-yards to Sager, for the Mustangs.

The Bearcats gained 30-yards rushing and 45-yards passing for a total offense of 75-yards. Maurice Williams led the Bearcats rushing attack with 41-yards, followed by Jordan Zackery with 6-yards, Ratik Drakeford with minus 4-yards, and Roger Eaton with minus 13-yards. Quarterback Eaton completed 5 of 26 passes for 45-yards, 2 for 21-yards to Steffonte Doby, 1 for 14-yards to Kevin Kearse, 1 for 9-yards to Zackery, and 1 for 1-yard to Williams, for the Bearcats.

The 83 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 stirring post-game performance. The field production of the 2009 edition of the Band, under the guidance of second year Director Ethan Clark, is titled “Horsing Around in the Mustang Corral” and is a 50th anniversary musical celebration featuring the school “Alma Mater,” “Magnificent 7,” a lullaby of “All The Pretty Little Horses,” and “The Red Pony.” The fabulous half time show opened with the 105-member Emory H Markle middle school band performing the theme from Blazing Saddles and “That’s the Way I Like It.” The 85 member South Western High School Alumni Band, with representation from 43 of the 50-years of the school’s history, then performed “Master of the House” from Les Miserables and “Basin Street Blues.” Both bands were then joined by the Mustangs Marching Band to close out the show with “One Voice.” The 24 member strong Mustangs Cheerleading squad was fantastic in rousing their fandom.

The Mustangs of South Western are 8-1-0 overall and 5-1-0 in York Adams Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

Don Seidenstricker has a 181-78-1 (.699) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 322-196-8. The results of the 526 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .622 winning percentage and a .627 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs continue league play and host the Colonials of New Oxford. The Colonials are coming off of a 28-7 win over the Eagles of Dover. From here it looks like the Mustangs are ready to end the regular season on a high and winning note and march on to the District 3 playoffs. GO MUSTANGS GO.