SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2012-12

By Bill Engelhardt
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Last Friday evening, November 9, the number 12 Mustangs of South Western visited the number 5 seed Mustangs of Governor Mifflin (8-2 overall, 7-0 Berks Inter-Count 1 League) in the first round of the District 3 class AAAA Playoffs and were defeated 49-20. The Mustangs of Governor Mifflin will move on and play the Comets of Penn Manor (10-1 overall, 6-1 Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 1) at Millersville University next Friday at 7PM in the second round of the playoffs.

South Western opened the game with a 5 play 12-yard drive from their 11-yard line and punted. Governor Mifflin then drove 40-yards six plays, ending with a 2-yard touchdown run by Jan Johnson. David Suchoza’s extra point kick put Governor Mifflin up 7-0 at the 7:57 mark of the first quarter.

South Western drove 37-yards in three plays, featuring a 28-yard run by Dillon Thomas, only to have Thomas DePaul intercept a Mike Duffy pass and return it 22-yards. Governor Mifflin then 67-yards in seven plays, ending with DePaul’s 12-yard touchdown run. Suchoza’s extra point kick made the score 14-0 at the 43:47 mark of the first quarter.

South Western went three and out and punted. However, Aram Moffitt recovered a Governor Mifflin fumble for South Western and the Mustangs had the ball on the Governor Mifflin 10-yard line. Zach Osborne dashed in for a 10-yard touchdown and Jake Tracy’s extra point kick made the score 14-7 at the 1:59 mark of the first quarter.

DePaul returned the kickoff 44-yards to the South Western 26-yard line and four plays later he scored a touchdown on a 10-yard run. Suchoza’s extra point kick upped the score to 21-7 with 10 seconds left in the first quarter.

South Western and Governor Mifflin exchanged punts and South Western punted again. Then Governor Mifflin drove 65-yards in eight plays, ending with Aric Dupell’s 5-yard touchdown run. Suchoza’s extra point kick put Governor Mifflin up 28-7 at the 4:33 mark of the second quarter.

Payton Taylor returned the ensuing kickoff 85-yards to the Governor Mifflin 10-yard line for South Western. Three plays later Tyler Sterner threw a nifty 9-yard touchdown pass to Jerome Robinson for South Western and Tracy’s extra point kick made the score 28-14 at the 3:28 mark of the second quarter.

Governor Mifflin then drove 52-yards in five plays, featuring a 26-yard pass from Jan Johnson to TJ Battinieri, and ending with an 11-yard touchdown run by DePaul. Suchoza’s extra point kick upped the score to 35-14 at the 1:19 mark of the second quarter.

Governor Mifflin opened the second half with a 66-yard seven play drive, ending with a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Jonas Fiant. Suchoza’s extra point kick upped the score to 42-14 at the 8:28 mark of the third quarter.

South Western ran off three plays and Tyler Sterner’s pass was intercepted by DePaul (his second interception of the game) for Governor Mifflin. Governor Mifflin then drove 62-yards in eight plays, ending with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Jan Johnson to TJ Battinieri. Suchoza’s extra point kick upped the score to 49-14, invoking the running clock, at the 3:13 mark of the third quarter.

Marcus Johnson recovered a South Western fumble for Governor Mifflin at the South Western 26-yard line. South Western’s defense held and Governor Mifflin turned the ball over on downs at the South Western 23-yard line. Dillon Thomas then jaunted 77-yards for a South Western touchdown, closing out the scoring at 49-20 with 10 seconds left in the third quarter.

Jake Tracy kicked off 4 times for 159-yards, with the longest going for 50-yards. Payton Taylor returned 2 kickoffs for 90-yards, with the longest going for 85-yards, Wyat Trostle returned 4 kickoffs for 61-yards, with the longest going for 19-yards, and Brandon McMinn retuned 1 kickoff for 8-yards. Brandon Utz punted 4 times for 124-yards for an average of 31.0-yards, with the longest going for 37-yards, for the South Western Mustangs.

Devon Ackerman, with 11 tackles, led the South Western Mustangs defense, followed by Payton Taylor with 10 tackles, Aram Moffitt with 6 tackles and a recovered fumble, Gunner Holtz with 6 tackles and a pass hurry, Eddie Lane, Chris Weibe and Brady Shultz with 5 tackles each, Gabe Morela with 4 tackles, Mike Duffy with 3 tackles, Alex Jones, Dakotah Moses, and Jerome Robinson with 2 tackles each, and Brandon McMinn, Zach Nixon, Hunter Palmer, Shawn Secola, Jake Tracy, Brandon Utz, and Josh Walker with 1 tackle each.

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, Zach Nixon, 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 South Western Mustangs, with help from Aaron Doll.

The South Western Mustangs gained 224-yards rushing and 47-yards passing for a total of 271-yards of offense. Quarterback Tyler Sterner completed 6 of 9 passes for 47-yards and 1 touchdown, 2 for 17-yards to Bobby Wildasin, 1 for 11-yards to Dakotah Moses, 1 for 9-yards and a touchdown to Jerome Robinson, 1 for 5-yards to Zach Osborne, and 1 for 5-yards to Dillon Thomas, and quarterback Mike Duffy failed to complete a pass in 4 attempts, for the South Western Mustangs.

Dillon Thomas led the South Western Mustangs rushing attack with 20 carries for 190-yards (Including a 77-yard touchdown, giving him a single season school record 1,541-yards rushing to go along with his 17 touchdowns for the season), followed by Wildasin with 4 carries for 16-yards, Zach Osborne with 2 carries for 14-yards (including a 10-yard touchdown), Brady Shultz with 4 carries for 8-yards, Dakotah Moses with 1 carry for no yards, and Tyler Sterner with 1 carry for minus 4-yards. Jake Tracy kicked 2 extra points, Aram Moffitt recovered a fumble, and Gunner Holtz recorded a sack, for the South Western Mustangs.

The Governor Mifflin Mustangs gained 421-yards rushing and 33- yards passing for a total of 454-yards gained. Quarterback Jan Johnson completed 2 of 3 passes for 33-yards and 1 touchdown (for 9-yards) to Thomas Battinieri for the Governor Mifflin Mustangs.

Thomas DePaul led the Governor Mifflin Mustangs rushing attack with 10 carries for 135-yards (including touchdowns of 12, 10, and 11-yards), followed by Johnson with 99 (including a 10-yard touchdown), Ryan Barbon with 75, Rhomello with 31, Jonas Fiant with 28 (including a 1-yard touchdown), Aric Dupell with 26 (including an 11-yard touchdown), Majid Sillah with 17, Bret Kendall with 6, Hunter Reeser with 3-yards, and Wilson Fontanez with 1-yard. David Suchoza kicked 7 extra points and DePaul intercepted 2 passes for the Governor Mifflin Mustangs.

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 Governor Mifflin Mustangs Marching Band put on a stirring pre-game show.

The South Western Mustangs Cheer Leading squad and the Governor Mifflin Mustangs squad were very impressive as they roused the faithful.

The Mustangs of South Western finished their season 6-5-0 overall and 3-2-0 in York Adams Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

The Mustangs have a career record of 343-211-8. The results of the 562 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .619 winning percentage and a .625 non-losing percentage.

We bid a fond and tearful farewell and offer our best wishes for the future to the 19 departing seniors. We owe them all our gratitude for their efforts in providing us with exciting football over the course of their high school careers. They are: Devon Ackerman, Aaron Doll, Mike Duffy, A.J. Jones, Doug Krout, Aram Moffitt, Mike Mooradian, Gabe Morela, Dakotah Moses, Logan Neiderer, Zach Nixon, Jerome Robinson, David Schaub, Shawn Secola, Brady Shultz, Jake Tracy, Brandon Utz, Chris Weibe, and Bobby Wildasin.

I want to say a very special thank you to Richard Lupro for faithfully compiling the official Offensive, Special Teams and Scoring statistics for the Mustangs, and for inputting them at the Max Preps web site very quickly each week so that they were always available for my use. He was instrumental in coming up with many of the records that will be mentioned below. And a very special thank you also goes to Mustangs Assistant Coach Chris Heilman inputting all of the defensive stats at Max Preps after reviewing game films on very short notice. They were always available for my use on the day after each game.

The 2012 edition of the Mustangs of South Western got Damian Poalucci’s Head Coaching career off to a fine start indeed. Having taken over the helm from the hugely successful and legendary 26-year Coach Don Seidenstricker, Damian had a very tough act to follow. There is no doubt that he lived up to the challenge, and then some. Congratulations go to Damian on a job well done.

The Mustangs gave their fans lots of excitement and thrills.

Dillon Thomas ended his season with 213 carries for 1,541-yards and 17 touchdowns rushing and 8 pass receptions for 76-yards. This will put him in the “Keystone Club” at the Pennsylvania Football News. Only a junior, Dillon still has a year to go in his high school career. He rushed for 1,058-yards and 15 touchdowns in his sophomore year, giving him a career total of 2,599-yards and 32-touchdowns rushing. This already puts him in 3rd place in career rushing yardage in the history of the school, and he is only 273-yards short of breaking the all time record of 2,871-yards set by Allen Bittinger. He knocked assistant coach Doug Morela, with 2,351-yards rushing, from 3rd place down to 4th place.

Dillon Thomas’ 32 touchdowns puts him in 4th place on the career list, 2 touchdowns behind Morela’s 34 and 15 behind Mike Felton’s school record of 47 touchdowns. Repeating this season’s number next year would put him in 1st place. His 102 points scored for this season will also put him in the “Keystone Club.”

Jake Tracy kicked 31 extra points for the season and 35 for last season, putting him in 3rd place on the career list in school history with 66. This will put him in the “Keystone Club.” Ryan Wickline with 105 and Drew Snyder with 81 are in 1st and 2nd place all time.

Brandon Utz punted 37 times for 1,304-yards, for an average of 35.24-yards. This will put him in the “Keystone Club.”

The quarterback tandem of Mike Duffy and Tyler Sterner completed 63 of 133 passes for 974-yards and 9 touchdowns. Ryan Lane chipped in with 2 completions and 1 touchdown and Ryan Krebs added another completion for the Mustangs. The team totaled 66 completions on 137 attempts for 915-yards and 10 touchdowns. The season reception leaders were Jerome Robinson with 14 for 203-yards and 4 touchdowns, followed by Zach Osborne with 10 for 92-yards and 1 touchdown, Mike Mooradian with 5 for 84-yards and 1 touchdown, Dillon Thomas with 8 for 76-yards, Brandon McMinn with 2 for 71-yards, Hunter Palmer with 3 for 65-yards, Jordan Markle with 3 for 59-yards and 1 touchdown, Dakotah Moses with 6 for 54-yards, Payton Taylor with 3 for 48-yards and 1 touchdown, Branden Fahs with 1 for 45-yards and 1 touchdown, Brady Shultz with 3 for 44-yards and 1 touchdown, Gabe Morela with 2 for 36-yards, Bobby Wildasin with 4 for 24-yards, Wyatt Trostle with 1 for 8-yards, and Brady Thayer with 1 for 6-yards.

Dillon Thomas led the team in rushing with his 146 carries for 1,541-yards and 17 touchdowns, followed by Brady Shultz with 42 carries for 220-yards and 1 touchdown, Dakotah Moses with 35 carries for 178-yards and 1 touchdown, Zach Osborne with 32 carries for 141-yards and 1 touchdown, Camden Brown with 25 carries for 137-yards and 2 touchdowns, Bobby Wildasin with 19 carries for 86-yards, Payton Taylor with 18 carries for 76-yards and 1 touchdown, Wyatt Trostle with 17 carries for 62-yards and 1 touchdown, Matt Shanks with 5 carries for 23-yards, Ryan Lane with 1 carry for 6-yards and 1 touchdown, Mike Duffy with 29 carries for 5-yards and 1 touchdown, Bret Hertzog with 8 carries for 2-yards, and Tyler Sterner with 15 carries for minus 18-yards and 2 touchdowns. There was a team loss of 6-yards on 6 carries. There was a net of 465 carries for 2,453-yards and 28 rushing touchdowns for the season.

Dillon Thomas led the team in scoring with 102 points, from 17 touchdowns. He was followed by Jake Tracy with 31 points on 31 extra point kicks, Payton Taylor with 18 points on 3 touchdowns, Camden Brown, Jordan Markle, Zach Osborne, Brady Shultz, and Tyler Sterner with 12 points each, on 2 touchdowns, and Mike Duffy, Branden Fahs, Ryan Lane, Mike Mooradian, Dakotah Moses, and Wyatt Trostle with 6 points each, on 1 touchdown. The team scored 277 points for the season.

There were 4 players with at least 50 tackles for the season. They were: Aram Moffitt with 67, Chris Weibe with 65, Eddie Lane with 54, and Payton Taylor with 52.

Chris Weibe led the team with 3 sacks on the season, followed by Gunner Holtz, Aram Moffitt, and Gabe Morela with 2 sacks each, and Eddie Lane, Ryan Lane, Ethan Paul, and Dillon Thomas with 1 sack each. There was a team total of 13 sacks for the season.

The 2012 Mustangs represented their school and league honorably, played hard, never gave up, and they reached the District 3 Playoffs. They have a great nucleus of returning players from the junior varsity and solid players coming up within the ranks. And the distant future looks bright as well, as the 7th, 8th, and 9th grade teams had only 1 loss among them this season. I can’t wait for next season to begin. Until then, GO MUSTANGS GO.