SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2011-7

By Bill Engelhardt
________

Last Friday evening, October 7, the Mustangs of South Western hosted the Wildcats of Dallastown at the Mustang Corral on Homecoming Night to begin YAIAA Division I action for the 2011 season and galloped to a 29-21 come from behind victory. The Wildcats led 15-0 at the half and the Mustangs stormed back in the second half to win the game.

The Mustangs started the game with a three-play drive that ended when Jack Margavitch intercepted a Zach Gross pass and returned it 28-yards for the Wildcats. The Wildcats drove 32-yards in eight plays, featuring a 12-yard pass from Andrew Henry to Josh Chronister, and ending with Henry’s 4-yard touchdown plunge. The extra point kick by Margavitch put the Wildcats up 7-0 at the 6:16 mark in the first quarter.

The defenses of the Mustangs and the Wildcats stiffened and they exchanged punts. The Mustangs ended up punting again and the Wildcats drove 56-yards in two plays, ending with a 52-yard touchdown jaunt by Andrew Quinones. The extra point snap was high and Quinones came to the rescue with a 2-point conversion pass to David Butler, upping the score to 15-0 with 10:15 to go in the second quarter.

The Mustangs turned the ball over on downs and the Wildcats punted, but Brooks Morrison recovered the muffed punt for the Wildcats. The Wildcats then turned the ball over on downs and the first half came to an end.

The Wildcats drove 35-yards in eight plays, featuring a 15-yard pass from Henry to Keith Matthews, but ended up punting. Dillon Langenfeld returned the punt for 45-yards, setting the Mustangs up on the Wildcats 29-yard line. Dakotah Moses gained 11-yards, then 3-yards, and Mike Felton finished off the three-play drive with a nifty 15-yard touchdown run. Jake Tracy kicked the extra point and the score was 15-7 at the 6:02 mark in the third quarter.

The Wildcats next possession was short lived and ended when Reid Cruz recovered a Wildcats fumble for the Mustangs. The Mustangs then drove 44-yards in five plays, featuring a 32-yard pass from Gross to Jaelen Langenfeld, and ending with a 5-yard touchdown run by Dillon Thomas. Gross then threw a picture perfect 2-point conversion pass to Fryfogle and the Mustangs tied the game at 15 with 2:12 left in the third quarter.

On the next play from scrimmage Felton intercepted a Wildcats pass, but the Mustangs couldn’t capitalize and turned the ball over on downs. The Wildcats ended up punting but Margavitch recovered the muffed punt for the Wildcats. The Wildcats drove 32-yards in four plays, featuring a 26-yard pass from Henry to Margavitch and ending with a 2-yard touchdown plunge by Quinones. The score went to 21-15 in favor of the wildcats with 9:11 left in the game.

The Mustangs then drove 60-yards in six plays. Gross threw a beautiful 44-yard touchdown pass to Reid Cruz and Tracy’s extra point kick gave the Mustangs a 22-21 lead with 6:07 left in the game.

The game was still up for grabs and the Wildcats turned the ball over on downs at the Mustangs 40-yard line with 1:20 left in the game. Dakotah Moses gained 3-yards and then Dillon Thomas sealed the victory with a 57-yard touchdown run. Tracy’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 29-21 and closed out the scoring with 1:05 left in the game.

Felton kicked off 5 times for 248-yards, with the longest going for 60-yards and a touchback, and he punted 3 times for 126-yards, for an average of 42.0-yards, with the longest going for 48-yards. Jaelen Langenfeld returned 3 kickoffs for 59-yards, with the longest going for 25-yards, Carnie Fryfogle returned 1 kickoff for 9-yards, and Dillon Langenfeld fielded 1 punt with a fair catch, for the Mustangs.

Carnie Fryfogle led the defense again (a fairly regular occurrence) with 20 tackles (giving him a team leading 84 for the season), followed by Mike Felton with 15 tackles, an interception and a pass defense, Keith Pappas with 12 tackles, Ryan Dotson with 8 tackles and a sack, Chad Kolper with 8 tackles, Reid Cruz with 7 tackles and a fumble recovery, Jeremy Loughlin with 7 tackles and a sack, Jerome Robinson with 6 tackles and a pass defense, Brandon Stremmel with 6 tackles, Logan Bowman with 5 tackles, a sack and a pass defense, Devon Ackerman with 5 tackles, Rich Delea with 3 tackles and a fumble recovery, Dillon Langenfeld and Dillon Thomas with 2 tackles each, Brandon Krise with 1 tackle and a pass defense, and Alex Baugher, Eddie Lane, Jaelen Langenfeld, and Aram Moffit with 1 tackle each.

Devon Ackerman, Alex Baugher, Logan Bowman, Reid Cruz, Rich Delea, Ryan Dotson, Carnie Fryfogle, Matt Hawn, Chad Kolper, Jeremy Loughlin, Aram Moffit, Keith Pappas, Brandon Stremmel, Dillon Thomas, and Zach Townsend, manned the offensive and defensive line and linebacker positions, with help from Dakotah Moses. Mike Duffy, Mike Felton, Brandon Krise, Dillon Langenfeld, Jaelen Langenfeld, and Jerome Robinson, patrolled the secondary for the Mustangs.

The Mustangs gained 198-yards rushing and 78-yards passing for a total of 276-yards of offense. Dillon Thomas led the Mustangs rushing attack with 9 carries for 82-yards (including touchdowns of 5 and 57-yards), followed by Mike Felton with 12 for 71-yards (including a 15-yard touchdown), Dakotah Moses with 8 for 37-yards, Reid Cruz with 3 for 4-yards, and Carnie Fryfogle with 1 carry for 4-yards. Quarterback Zach Gross completed 3 of 9 passes for 78-yars and 1 touchdown, 1 for 44-yards and a touchdown to Cruz, 1 for 32-yards to Jaelen Langenfeld, and 1 for 2 yards to Thomas, for the Mustangs. Gross through a perfect 2-pont conversion pass to Fryfogle, Jake Tracy kicked 3 extra points, Felton intercepted a pass, and Cruz and Rich Delea each recovered a fumble, for the Mustangs.

The Wildcats gained 212-yards rushing and 131-yards passing for a total of 343-yards gained. Andrew Quinones led the Wildcats rushing attack with 9 carries for 75-yards (including touchdowns of 52 and 2-yards), followed by Keith Matthews with 21 for 75-yards, Andrew Henry with 18 for 59-yards (including a 4-yard touchdown), and Andrew Heird with 1 carry for 3-yards. Quarterback Henry completed 11 of 17 passes for 131-yards, 7 for 77-yards to David Butler, 2 for 25-yards to Josh Chronister, 1 for 15-yards to Drew Romesberg, and 1 for 14-yards to Matthews, for the Wildcats. Quinones threw a 2-point conversion pass to Butler, Jack Margavitch kicked 1 extra point and intercepted a pass and returned it for 28-yards, and Brooks Morrison recovered a muffed punt, for the Wildcats.

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 post-game performance, presenting their 2011 field show “The Colors of Dreams.” The relaxing mallet introduction led to the haunting sound of “The Dream is Collapsing” from Inception, followed by “Zooster’s Rebellion” from Madagascar, the sorrowful longing of “Hummel Gets the Rockets,” from the Rock, and the show closed with “The Burning Bush,” from Prince of Egypt. The Dallastown Wildcats Marching Band put on a rousing half time performance with their show “The Music of Elvis,” featuring “Are You Lonesome Tonight,” “Burning Love,””CC Rider,” “Love Me Tender,” “Heartbreak Hotel,” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” The Mustangs and Wildcatss Cheer Leading squads were very impressive as they roused the faithful. For the third quarter the Mustangs fielded the cheer leading squads from the middle school through the high school and nearly 100 cheerleaders performed in unison to put on an awesome show.

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

Don Seidenstricker has a 191-87-1 (.688) record as coach of the Mustangs, who have a career record of 332-205-8. The results of the 545 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .618 winning percentage and a .624 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs visit the Panthers of Central York (5-1 overall, 1-0 league). Central York is coming off of a 49-0 victory over the Rockets of Spring Grove. The Mustangs are looking to continue their winning ways. GO MUSTANGS GO.