SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2012-10

By Bill Engelhardt
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Last Friday evening, October 26, the Mustangs of South Western visited the den of the Bearcats of William Penn (York High) and galloped to a 28-21 victory. The Mustangs rang up 27 first downs, nearly twice as many plays, and 388 yard rushing, including 203-yards and 4 touchdowns by Dillon Thomas, but a few big plays kept the Bearcats in the game. The last 2 plays of the game were incomplete passes in the end zone by the Bearcats, so it was a cliffhanger until the end.

The Mustangs victory moved them up from number 17 to number 14 in District 3 playoff rankings in Class AAAA. The top 16 teams make the playoffs and William Penn dropped to number 17. If the playoffs began now the number 14 Mustangs of South Western would visit the number 3 Cougars of Harrisburg (7-2).

The Mustangs opened the game with a twelve play 56-yard drive, featuring a 20-yard run by Thomas, to the Bearcats 16-yard line. A field goal attempt failed and the Bearcats began a drive on their 20-yard line. The first play from scrimmage was a 72-yard pass from James Way to Dakeem Dennison to the Mustangs 8-yard line. After a penalty to the 4-yard line, Kelvin Nieves plunged in for a touchdown. Thurman Fogleman’s extra point kick put the Bearcats up 7-0 at the 5:36 mark of the first quarter.

The Mustangs and the Bearcats exchanged punts twice and the Mustangs began a drive on their own 5-yard line. Nate Delmotte intercepted a pass and returned it to the Mustangs 7-yrd line, only to have the play erased with roughing the passer penalty that maintained the Mustangs’ possession at the 20. Twelve plays later, featuring 16 and 20-yard runs by Thomas and a 20-yard run by Zach Osborne, Thomas scored a touchdown on a 1-yard plunge. Jake Tracy’s extra point kick tied the score at 7 with 2:12 left in the first half.

The Bearcats then drove 45-yards in about a minute, featuring a 12-yard pass from Way to Dennison. Way threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Derek Wilson and Fogleman’s extra point kick put the Bearcats up 14-7 with 1:07 to go in the half.

The Mustangs then drove 65-yards in seven plays, featuring consecutive runs of 23, 19, and 20-yards by Brady Shultz. Thomas scored on a 6-yard run and Tracy’s extra point kick tied the score at 14 with one second left in the first half.

The Bearcats opened the second half with a 37-yard kickoff return by Nieves to the Mustangs 35-yard line. Nieves fumbled two plays later and Jerome Robinson recovered it for the Mustangs at their 16-yard line. Nine plays later, featuring an 18-yard run by Shultz, the Mustangs failed to convert on a 4th down play and turned the ball over on downs at the Bearcats 38-yard line. The Bearcats went three and out and punted.

The Mustangs then drove 64-yards in five plays, featuring a 23-yard run by Thomas and a 26-yard pass from Tyler Sterner to Mike Mooradian. Thomas scored a touchdown on a 13-yard run and Tracy’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 21-14 with 2:27 left in the third quarter.

Nieves returned the kickoff 38-yards to the Mustangs 31-yard line for the Bearcats. The Bearcats drove 31-yards in seven plays, featuring a 14-yard pass from Way to Wilson, and ending with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Way to Bryshon Sweeney. Fogleman’s extra point kick tied the score at 21 with 11:55 left in the game.

Payton Taylor returned the Bearcats’ kickoff 28-yards to the Mustangs 43-yard line. The Mustangs then drove 57-yards in nine plays, featuring a 12-yard run by Shultz. The drive ended with a 4-yard touchdown by Thomas. Tracy’s extra point kick made the final score 28-21 in favor of the Mustangs with 7:25 left in the game.

The Bearcats had a drive end with an interception in the end zone by Mike Duffy. The Bearcats final drive ended with 2 incomplete passes in the end zone and time ran out.

Jake Tracy kicked off 5 times for 182-yards, with the longest going for 57-yards. Payton Taylor returned 2 kickoffs for 47-yards, with the longest going for 28-yards, and Camden Brown returned 1 kickoff for 15-yards. Brandon Utz punted 3 times for 137-yards for an average of 45.67-yards, with the longest going for 58-yards. Jerome Robinson returned 1 punt for 2-yards for the Mustangs.

Chris Weibe, with 7 tackles and a caused fumble, led the Mustang defense, followed by Ryan Krebs with 7 tackles and a pass defense, Eddie Lane with 6 tackles, Gunner Holtz with 5 tackles and 3 pass hurries, Payton Taylor with 5 tackles and a pass defense, Aram Moffitt with 4 tackles and 2 pass hurries, Brady Shultz with 3 tackles and a pass defense, Jerome Robinson with 2 tackles and a recovered fumble, Devon Ackerman with 2 tackles and a pass hurry, Brandon McMinn, and Aaron Uttley with 2 tackles each, Mike Duffy with 1 tackle, an interception and 3 pass defenses, Ryan Lane, with 1 tackle and 2 pass defenses, Gabe Morela with 1 tackle and a pass hurry, and Aaron Doll, Brady Thayer, Jake Tracy, Wyat Trostle with 1 tackle each, and Bobby Wildasin with a pass defense.

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

The Mustangs gained 388-yards rushing and 53yards passing for a total of 441-yards of offense. Quarterback Mike Duffy completed 3 of 5 passes for 21-yards, 1 for 12-yards to Mike Mooradian, 1 for 5-yards to Brady Shultz, and 1 for 4-yards to Zach Osborne, and quarterback Tyler Sterner completed 2 of 3 passes for 32-yards, 1 for 26-yards to Mooradian and 1 for 6-yards to Brady Thayer, for the Mustangs.

Dillon Thomas led the Mustangs rushing attack with 34 carries for 203-yards (including touchdowns of 1, 6, 13, and 4yards), followed by Brady Shultz with 11 carries for 123-yards, Bobby Wildasin with 4 carries for 25-yards, Dakotah Moses with 5 carries for 21-yards, Zach Osborne with 4 carries for 21-yards, Mike Duffy with 3 carries for 3-yards, Wyat Trostle with 1 carry for 2-yards, and Tyler Sterner with 3 carries for minus 10-yards. Jake Tracy kicked 4 extra points for the Mustangs.

The Bearcats gained 101-yards rushing and 244 yards passing for a total of 354 yards gained. James way completed 10 of 27 passes for the 244-yards, 6 for 139-yards to Derek Wilson (including a 33-yard touchdown), 2 for 86-yards to Dakeem Dennison, 1 for 20-yards and a touchdown to Bryshon Sweeney, and 1 for minus 1-yard to John Phillips, for the Bearcats.

Way led the Bearcats rushing attack with 10 carries 66-yards, followed by Kelvin Nieves with 7 carries for 44-yards (including a 4-yard touchdown), and Sweeney with 1 carry for 2-yards. Thurman Fogleman kicked 3 extra points and Nieves recorded a sack for the Bearcats.

The 9-time Cavalcade of Bands Champions, Tournament of Bands Group IV Champion and US Scholastic Band Champion 59 member strong 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, then with a ballad highlighting the beauty and mystery of the night air and the “stars.” The show closed with the exotic sounds of the land in “Puma.” The 43 members strong Bearcats Marching Band put on a stirring post-game show entitled “Spies Among Us,” featuring music from espionage films.

The 23 member strong Mustangs Cheer Leading squad and the Bearcats squad were very impressive as they roused the faithful.

The Mustangs of South Western are 5-4-0 overall and 2-2-0 in York Adams Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

The Mustangs have a career record of 342-210-8. The results of the 560 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 host the Rockets of Spring Grove (7-2 overall, 4-0 league) to close out the regular season. Spring Grove I coming off of a 49-34 victory over the Wildcats of Dallastown. The Mustangs are looking to remain on the winning track. GO MUSTANGS GO.