SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2013-6

By Bill Engelhardt

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Last Friday evening, September 27, the Mustangs of South Western visited the YAIAA Division II Warriors of Susquehannock and rode the arm of Tyler Sterner to a convincing 28-14 victory.  Sterner threw 3 touchdown passes for the Mustangs.

The Mustangs opened the game with a five play 16-yard drive, featuring a 12-yard pass from Tyler Sterner to Logan Bowman and punted.  The Warriors returned the favor after a three and out, which included a sack by Skylar Bowman for the Mustangs, and punted.

The Mustangs then drove 37-yards in five plays, featuring a 28-yard run by Jordan Markle to the 7-yard line, and ending with a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Camden Brown.  The extra point kick by reliable sophomore Brock Geiman put the Mustangs up 7-0 at the 6:42 mark of the first quarter.

The Warriors then drove 36-yards to the Mustangs 28-yard line in 13-plays, featuring a 27-yard pass from Bryan Kerr to Steven Nalls for the Warriors and a sack for a 7-yard loss by Ryan Krebs for the Mustangs, only to turn the ball over on downs.  The Mustangs ended up punting and the Warriors had a 51-yard drive, featuring a 31-yard pass from Kerr to Sammy Miller, end with another turnover on downs

The Mustangs then drove 76-yards in five plays, featuring an 18-yard pass from Sterner to Markle.  The drive ended with a beautiful 52-yard touchdown pass from Sterner to Brandon McMinn, helped by a tremendous block by Markle.  McMinn must have the magic touch because he has 3 receptions for 3 touchdowns for the year.  Geiman’s extra point kick upped the score to 14-0 with 6:56 left in the first half.

The Warriors went three and out and punted.  The Mustangs then drove 72-yards in ten plays, ending with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Sterner to Hunter Palmer.  Geiman’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 21-0 with 26 seconds left in the half.

The Warriors and the Mustangs exchanged punts, twice, in the third quarter.  Then the Warriors drove 80-yards in eight plays, featuring a 42-yard pass from Kerr to Nalls.  Kerr ran in for a 4-yard touchdown and Adam Hedgeland’s extra point kick made the score 21-7 at the 2:26 mark of the third quarter.

The Mustangs then drive 52-yards in 3 plays, ending with Sterner’s 37-yard touchdown pass to Logan Bowman.  Geiman’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 28-7 with 21 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Warriors went three and out, including a sack for a 5-yard loss by McMinn for the Mustangs, and punted.  The Mustangs then drove 58-yards in ten plays, featuring a 25-yard pass from reserve quarterback Geiman to Miles Francis and a 32-yard pass from Geiman to Markle, only to miss on Geiman’s 36-yard field goal attempt.

The Mustangs substituted liberally and the Warriors drove 80-yards in ten plays, featuring a 35-yard pass from Colin Kelly to Luke Knott.  The drive ended with a 7-yard touchdown run by Kelly and Hedgeland’s extra point kick made the final score 28-14 in favor of the Mustangs with 23 seconds left in the game.

Brock Geiman kicked off 4 times for 133-yards, with the longest going for 49-yards, and punted 4 times for 142-yards (for a 35.5-yard average), with the longest going for 38-yards, for the Mustangs.  Miles Francis returned 1 kickoff for 10-yards and 3 punts for 45-yards, with the longest going for 24-yards, Ryan Krebs returned1 kickoff for 9-yards, and Brady Thayer returned 1 punt for 5-yards, for the Mustangs. 

Tyler Jachelski, with 10 tackles, led the Mustangs defense, followed by Ryan Lane with 6 tackles and a pass defense, Josh Walker with 6 tackles, Brandon McMinn with 5 tackles and 1 sack, Skylar Bowman with 4 tackles and 2 sacks, Domnick Holcombe with 4 tackles and 1 sack, Logan Bowman with 4 tackles and a pass defense, Payton Taylor with 4 tackles, Ryan Krebs with 3 tackles and 1 sack, Matt Helwig with 2 tackles and 1 pass defense, Hunter Palmer with 2 tackles and 1 pass defense, Marcus Jones and Jordan Markle with 2 tackles each, Trevor Bankert with 1 tackle and 1 pass defense, Corbin Byers, Robby Harbison, Zach Hughes, Chris Steckel and Brady Thayer with 1 tackle each, Brock Geiman with 2 pas defenses, and Jeff Green with 1 pass defense.

Rich Bosse, Skylar Bowman, Camden Brown, Scotty Dickmyer, Matt Helwig, Domnick Holcombe, Gunner Holtz, Tyler Jachelski, Ryan Krebs, Gus Landis, Ryan Lane, Brandon McMinn, Elder Sterner, Aaron Uttley, and Josh Walker, manned the offensive and defensive line and linebacker positions.

Logan Bowman, Brenden Fahs, Jordan Markle, Hunter Palmer, Payton Taylor, and Brady Thayer patrolled the secondary for the Mustangs.

The Mustangs gained 129-yards rushing and 209-yards passing for a total of 338-yards of offense. Quarterback Tyler Sterner completed 7 of 14 passes for the 152-yards and 3 touchdowns, 1 for 52-yards and a touchdown to Brandon McMinn, 2 for 49-yards to Logan Bowman (including a 37-yard touchdown), 1 for 18-yards to Jordan Markle, 1 for 17-yards and a touchdown to Hunter Palmer, and 2 for 16-yards to Noah Staub, and Brock Geiman completed 2 of 2 passes for 57-yards, 1 for 32-yards to Markle, and 1 for 25-yards to Miles Francis, for the Mustangs. 

Camden Brown led the Mustangs rushing attack with 16 carries for 58-yards (including a 1-yard touchdown), followed by Markle with 4 carries for 32-yards, Francis with 7 carries for 29-yards, Payton Taylor with 4 carries for 14-yards, Tyler Sterner with 1 carry for minus 1-yard, and Jeff Green with 1 carry for minus 2-yards.  Brock Geiman kicked 4 extra points for the Mustangs.

The Warriors gained 129-yards rushing and 148 yards passing for a total of 277-yards gained.  Quarterback Bryan Kerr completed 7 of 16 passes for 105-yards, 3 for 77-yards to Steven Nalls, 2 for 14-yards to Sammy Miller, 1 for 9-yards to Steven Martinez, and 1 for 5-yards to Colin Rennoll, and quarterback Colin Kelly completed 2 of 4 passes for 43-yards, 1 for 35-yards to Luke Knott, and 1 for 8-yards to Rennoll, for the Warriors. 

Sammy Miller led the Warriors rushing attack with13 carries for 49-yards, followed by Kerr with 12 carries for 30-yards, Sam Alis with 3 carries for 26-yards, Martinez with 5 carries for 13-yards, Kelly with 3 carries for 8-yards (including a 7-yard touchdown), and Colin Riley with 1 carry for 3-yards.  Adam Hedgeland kicked 2 extra points for the Warriors.

The 66 member strong 10-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 2013 field show “Joyful Beethoven.”  The Ode to Joy theme from the 9th Symphony is among the most recognizable melodies of all time.  Throughout the show this melody was combined, altered, and woven into many of Beethoven’s other compositions.  The show opened with a bold statement of the Ode to Joy theme that transitioned into the main theme from the fifth Symphony, featuring a horn trio of Amanda Smith, Nicia Werner, and Briannah Rohrbaugh.  Following a brief interlude of the Ode to Joy, the passion of the Egmont Overture was heard.  The music evolved from passion to triumph as the band segued into the Overture from Fidelio.  The Ballad began with the haunting sounds of the Moonlight Sonata and continued with the theme from the 2nd Movement of the Pathetique Sonata before being combined with the Ode to Joy Theme.  The closer began with the light-hearted sounds of the Scherzo theme from the Eroica Symphony before finishing with the triumphant reprise of the Ode to Joy Melody.

The 72 member strong Warriors Marching Band thrilled the crowd with their post game show “Future Shock.”

The 25 member strong Mustangs Cheer Leading squad and the 14 member strong Warrior’s squad were very impressive as they roused the faithful.

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

The Mustangs have a career record of 340-205-8.  The results of the 553 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .624 winning percentage and a .630 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs host the Wildcats of Dallastown (4-1 overall, 0-0 league).  Dallastown is coming off of a 34-17 win over the Colonials of New Oxford.  The Mustangs are looking to continue their winning tradition.  GO MUSTANGS GO.