SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2012-2

By Bill Engelhardt
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Last Friday evening, August 31, the Mustangs of South Western hosted the Warriors of Gettysburg at the Mustang Corral and galloped and passed to a resounding 41-6 victory to begin their 53rd season, the first under new head coach Damian Poalucci. Mustangs running back Dillon Thomas kept the offense moving with 109-yards rushing on 12 carries. He scored 2 rushing touchdowns accounting for 12 of the 41 points for the Mustangs. The quarterback tandem of Mike Duffy and Tyler Sterner accounted for 172-yards and 3 touchdowns passing on 7 completions to round out the balanced offense.

The Warriors opened the game and went three and out, after Dillon sacked the quarterback for a 6-yard loss, punting to the Mustangs. The Mustangs opened with a neat 6-yard run by Dakotah Moses, a 3-yard run by Brady Shultz. Duffy then followed with a beautiful 50-yard touchdown toss to Jordan Markle. Jake Tracy’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 7-0 with 9:04 left in the first quarter.

The Warriors only got in one play before Aram Moffitt recovered a fumble for the Mustangs. The Mustangs then went three and out and punted and the Warriors returned the favor by doing the same. Each team ended up punting again.

The Mustangs finally broke the logjam with a two-play drive from the Warriors 41-yard line. Dillon gained 8-yards to the 33 and Duffy lofted a picture perfect 33-yard touchdown pass to Payton Taylor. Jake Tracy’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 14-0 with 19 seconds left in the first quarter.

Gettysburg went three and out and punted and the Mustangs drove 46-yards in three plays with Sterner at the helm. Sterner ran for 6-yards to the 40, Dillon jaunted 29-yards to the 11, Shultz gained 9-yards to the 2, and Dillon plunged in for a touchdown. The extra point kick was blocked and the Mustangs were up 20-0 at the 8:48 mark in the second quarter.

The Warriors went three and out and punted again and the Mustangs launched a 64-yard four-play touchdown drive. Shultz ran for 5-yards, Payton Taylor ran for 11-yards, Zach Osborne ran for 5-yards, and Sterner tossed a perfect 43-yard touchdown pass to Jerome Robinson. Tracy’s extra point kick upped the score to 27-0 with 5:33 left in the first half.

The Mustangs opened the second half by punting after going three and out. Alex Jones immediately got the ball back for the Mustangs by recovering a Warriors fumble at the 19-yard line of the Warriors. Four plays later Dillon scored on a 5-yard run. Tracy’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 34-0 with 7:48 to go in the third quarter.

The Warriors drove 53-yards, aided by 35-yards in penalties, to the Mustangs, only to see Robinson intercept a Warriors pass and return it 8-yards to the Mustangs 31-yard line. The Mustangs drove 69-yrds in ten plays, featuring a 26-yard pass from Duffy to Moses and ending with a 3-yard touchdown plunge by Wyat Trostle. Tracy’s extra point kick upped the score to 41-0 and invoked the mercy rule with one minute to go in the third quarter.

The Mustangs substituted liberally after that. The Warriors then drove 67-yards in 12 plays, ending with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Logan Milhimes to Dane Purdy, closing out the scoring in the game with 5:40 left to play in the fourth quarter.

Tracy kicked off 5 times for 214-yards, with the longest going for 60-yards and a touchback, and Ryan Krebs kicked off 1 time for 41-yards. Gabe Morela punted 3 times for 69-yards (for an average of 23-yards) with the longest going for 38-yards. Brandon Utz punted 1 time for 40-yards. Robinson returned 3 punts for 18-yards, with the longest going for 9-yards, and returned 1 kickoff for 31-yards. Hunter Palmer returned 1 kickoff for 20-yards, for the Mustangs.

Aram Moffitt, who had 7 tackles and a sack, led the Mustangs defense, followed by Chris Weibe with 6 tackles and a sack, Eddie Lane with 5 tackles, Dillon Thomas with 4 tackles and a sack, Wyat Trostle with 4 tackles, Gunner Holtz with 3 tackles and a pass hurry, Joe Bond with 3 tackles, Matt Helwig, Alex Jones, Ryan Krebs, Ryan Lane, Babe Morela, and Josh Walker with 2 tackles each, Aaron Doll, Rich Bosse, Tyler Jachelski, Mike Mooradian, Ethan Paul, Shawn Secola, Brady Shultz, and Brandon Utz with 1 tackle each, Gunner Holtz with a pass hurry, and Jordan Markle with a pass defense..

Devon Ackerman, Alex Jones, Matt Helwig, Gunner Holtz, Eddie Lane, Aram Moffitt, Mike Mooradian, Gabe Morela, Dakotah Moses, Shawn Secola, Brady Shultz, Dillon Thomas, and Chris Weibe, manned the offensive and defensive line and linebacker positions, with help from Richard Bosse, Ryan Krebs, Ryan Lane, Ethan Paul, Josh Walker, Wayne Trostle, and Brandon Utz. Mike Duffy, Jordan Markle, Jerome Robinson, and Payton Taylor patrolled the secondary for the Mustangs, with help from Aaron Doll and Hunter Palmer.

The Mustangs gained 224-yards rushing and 172-yards passing for a total of 396-yards of offense. Quarterback Mike Duffy completed 4 of 8 passes for 116 and 2 touchdowns and quarterback Tyler Sterner completed 3 of 7 passes for 56-yards and 1 touchdown. Jordan Markle caught 1 pass for 50-yards and a touchdown from Duffy, Jerome Robinson caught 1 pass for 43-yards and a touchdown from Sterner, Payton Taylor caught 1 pass for 33-yards and a touchdown from Duffy, Dakotah Moses caught 2 passes for 26-yards, Hunter Palmer caught 1 pass for 12-yards, and Wyat Trostle caught 1 pass for 8-yards, for the Mustangs. Dillon Thomas led the Mustangs rushing attack with 12 carries for 109-yards (including touchdowns of 2 and 5-yards), followed by Trostle with 4 for 16 (including a 3-yard touchdown), Taylor with 4 for 15, Moses with 2 for 14, Matt Shanks for 3 for 13, Camden Brown with 5 for 12, Zach Osborne with 2 for 12, Brady Shultz with 6 for 11, Duffy with 1 for 11, Sterner with 1 for 6, and Bret Hertzog with 1 carry for 5-yards, for the Mustangs. Jake Tracy kicked 5 extra points, Robinson intercepted a pass and returned it for 8-yards, Aram Moffitt and Alex Jones each recovered a fumble, and Ethan Paul (for a loss of 8-yards), Aram Moffitt (for a loss of 8-yards), Dillon Thomas (for a loss of 6-yards) and Chris Weibe (for a loss of 6-yards) each recorded a sack for the Mustangs.

The Gettysburg Warriors rang up 40-yards rushing and 41-yards passing for a total of 81-yards gained. Quarterback Logan Milhimes completed 5 of 13 passes for the 41-yards and 1 touchdown, 2 for 24-yards to Dane Purdy (including a 13-yard touchdown), 1 for 10-yards to Jason Nye, 1 for 9-yards to Nathan Sharrah, and 1 for minus 2-yards to Jeremiah Colbert, for the Warriors. Nye led the Warriors rushing attack with 10 carries for 46-yards, followed by Sharrah with 5 for 9-yards, Colbert with 4 for 3-yards, Frederick Steimling with 4 for 1-yard, and Milhimes with 7 carries for minus 19-yards, for the Warriors.

The Mustangs are hoping to contend for the Division I championship in the YAIAA again this year.

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 half time performance, presenting their 2012 field show “Unity: A Natural Balance.” The show took us on a musical and visual exploration of the three natural forces among us: Water, Air and Land. The show opened with “Of Men and the Sea,” depicting the energetic role of water in our world. The raging water calmed us as we turned our eyes to the sky, with the ballad highlighting the beauty and mystery of the night air and the stars.

The 24 member strong Mustangs Cheer Leading squad was very impressive as they roused the faithful.

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

The Mustangs have a career record of 338-206-8. The results of the 552 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .621 winning percentage and a .626 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs visit the Colts of Cedar Cliff. Cedar Cliff opened the season with a 55-27 win over the Buckskins of Conestoga Valley. The Mustangs played great offense and great defense in their season opener. They are looking to continue in their winning tradition and make this a memorable season. GO MUSTANGS GO.