SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2013-10

By Bill Engelhardt

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Last Friday evening, October 25, the Mustangs of South Western hosted the Bearcats of William Penn (York High) and galloped and passed to a 42-33 victory in a shoot out. The Mustangs rang up 28 first downs and eight runners galloped up and down the field.  Some timely passes gained more than a few of those first downs.

Jordan Markle electrified the crowd by returning the opening kickoff 78 yards for a touchdown for the Mustangs.  Brock Geiman’s extra point put the Mustangs up 7-0 twelve seconds into the game.

The Bearcats went three and out and punted.  The Mustangs then drove 63-yards in eleven plays, featuring 10 and 9-yard runs by Jonas Walter, an 11-yard pass from Tyler Sterner to Wyatt Trostle, and an 18-yard pass from Sterner to Camden Brown, and ending with Sterner’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Noah Staub.  Geiman’s extra point kick upped the score to 14-0 at the 5:41 mark of the first quarter.

Bryshon Sweeney returned the kickoff for 76-yards to the Mustangs 11-yard line and then scored a touchdown for the Bearcats on an 11-yard run.  Thurman Fogleman’s extra point kick made the score 14-7 at the 5:18 mark (23 seconds separated the two touchdowns).

The Mustangs then drove 78-yards in thirteen plays, featuring a 26-yard gallop on a fake punt play by Geiman.  Robby Harbison’s 5-yard touchdown plunge and Geiman’s extra point kick upped the score to 21-7 with 23 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Bearcats then drove 54-yards in eleven plays, featuring a 24-yard run by James Way II, and a 12-yard pass from Way II to Saequan Whitaker, only to turn the ball over on downs at the Mustangs 8-yard line.

The Mustangs then drove 92-yards in fourteen plays, starting with a 13-yard run by Walter, and featuring a 13-yard run by Brown and a 12-yard run by Trostle.  Sterner ended the drive with a

1-yard touchdown plunge and Geiman’s extra point kick upped the score to 28-7 in favor of the Mustangs with 2:09 left in the first half.

The Bearcats then drove 61-yards in nine plays, featuring passes of 14 and 8-yards from Way III to Whitaker, and ending with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Way III to Dakeem Dennison.  Fogleman’s extra point kick made the score 28-14 with 25 seconds remaining in the half.

The Bearcats and the Mustangs exchanged the ball on fumbles on back-to-back plays and then the Bearcats scored a touchdown on a 55-yard run by Sweeney.  The extra point attempt failed and the score went to 28-20 in favor of the Mustangs at the 11:03 mark of the third quarter.

The Mustangs then drove 69-yards in nine plays, featuring a 13-yard pass from Sterner to Staub, a 16-yard pass from Sterner to Logan Bowman, and an 11-yard touchdown pass from Sterner to Bowman.  Geiman’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 35-20 at the 7:12 mark of the third quarter.

Dennison returned the Mustangs kickoff 81-yards for a touchdown.  Fogleman’s extra point kick made the score 35-27 at the 6:58 mark of the third quarter.

The Mustangs then drove 73-yards in eight plays, featuring a 39-yard pass from Sterner to Bowman.  Trostle scored a touchdown on a 5-yard run and Geiman’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 42-27 at the 3:45 mark of the third quarter.

The Bearcats gave up the ball when Payton Taylor recovered a fumble for the Mustangs and the Mustangs ended up punting.  The Bearcats then drove 65-yards in ten plays, featuring a 36-yard pass from Way III to Sweeney and a 21-yard touchdown pass from Way III to Dennison.  Fogleman’s extra point kick closed out the scoring at 42-33 in favor of the Mustangs with 8:21 left in the game.

Brock Geiman kicked off 7 times for 288-yards, with the longest going for 50-yards, and punted 2 times for 60-yards, for a 30-yard average, with the longest going for 41-yards, for the Mustangs.  Zach Hughes returned 3 kickoffs for 34-yards, with the longest going for 15-yards, Jordan Markle returned 1 kickoff for 78-yards and a touchdown, Matt Shanks returned 1 kickoff for 10-yards, and Miles Francis returned 1 punt for 2-yards, for the Mustangs.

Logan Bowman, with 8 tackles and a pass defense, led the Mustangs defense, followed by Tyler Jachelski, with 6 tackles and 1 interception, Aaron Uttley with 4 tackles and 2 pass hurries, Payton Taylor with 3 tackles and 1 recovered fumble, Josh Walker with 3 tackles and 1 pass hurry, Skylar Bowman with 3 tackles, Gunner Holtz with 2 tackles and 1 recovered fumble, Ryan Lane with 2 tackles and 1 pass hurry each, Zach Hughes with 2 tackles, Ryan Krebs with 1 tackle and 1 pass defense, and Luke Baugher, Brenden Fahs, Steven Foster, Brock Geiman, Domnick Holcombe, Jordan Markle, and Hunter Palmer with 1 tackle each.

Rich Bosse, Skylar Bowman, Camden Brown, 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 326-yards rushing and 139-yards passing for a total of 465-yards of offense. Quarterback Tyler Sterner completed 8 of 13 passes for 139-yards and 2 touchdowns, 3 for 66-yards to Logan Bowman (including an 11-yard touchdown), 2 for 23-yards to Noah Staub (including a 12-yard touchdown), 1 for 21-yards to Miles Francis, 1 for 18-yards to Camden Brown, and 1 for 11-yards to Wyatt Trostle, for the Mustangs.

Robby Harbison led the Mustangs rushing attack with 19 carries for 76-yards (including a 5-yard touchdown), followed by Jordan Markle with 7 carries for 52-yards, Jonas Walter with 11 carries for 51-yards, Francis with 9 carries for 46-yards, Trostle with 7 carries for 40-yards (including a 5-yard touchdown), Brown with 8 carries for 36-yards, Brock Geiman with 1 carry for 26-yards, and Sterner with 5 carries for 1-yard (including a 1-yard touchdown).  Markle returned the opening kickoff 78-yards for a touchdown, Geiman kicked 6 extra points and intercepted a pass, Tyler Jachelski intercepted a pass, and Gunner Holtz and Payton Taylor each recovered a fumble, for the Mustangs.

The Bearcats gained 234-yards rushing and 154 yards passing for a total of 388 yards gained.  James Way III completed 13 of 21 passes for 154-yards and 2 touchdowns, 5 for 64-yards to Bryshon Sweeney, 3 for 44-yards to Dakeem Dennison (including touchdowns of 14 and 21-yards), 4 for 40-yards to Saequan Whitaker, and 1 for 6-yards to Napolean Snelling, for the Bearcats.

Way III led the Bearcats rushing attack with 13 carries for 127-yards, followed by Sweeney with 11 carries for 107-yards (including touchdowns of 11 and 55-yards).  Dennison returned a kickoff 81-yards for a touchdown, Thurman Fogleman kicked 3 extra points, and Lasmir Mitchell recovered a fumble and recorded a sack, for the Bearcats.

The 66 member strong 10-time Cavalcade of Bands Champions, Tournament of Bands Group IV Champion, US Scholastic Band Champion, and just this week Tournament of Bands Chapter 6 Group 3A Champion, South Western Mustangs Marching Band put on a stirring post game 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 48 member strong Bearcats Marching Band presented Tunes from the Broadway musical and film “Mamma Mia,” including “I Have a Dream,” “Dancing Queen,” and “The Winner Takes It All” in their half time show.

The 26 member strong Mustangs Cheer Leading squad and the Bearcat’s squad were very impressive as they roused the faithful on a cold night.

The Mustangs of South Western are 3-6-0 overall and 1-3-0 in York Adams Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

The Mustangs have a career record of 341-208-8.  The results of the 557 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .621 winning percentage and a .627 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs visit the Rockets of Spring Grove (7-2 overall, 4-0 league) to close out the regular season.  Spring Grove is coming off of a 34-0 shut out by the Wildcats of Dallastown.  The Mustangs are looking to remain on the winning track.  GO MUSTANGS GO.