SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2013-7

By Bill Engelhardt

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Last Friday evening, October 4, the Mustangs of South Western hosted the Wildcats of Dallastown to begin YAIAA Division I action for the season and were defeated 34-21.  The teams were matched pretty evenly but a 77-yard punt return by Malik Lewis and two field goals by McKinley Curran made a huge difference.

The Mustangs opened the game by going three and out and punting and the Wildcats returned the favor by following suit, with a couple of penalties ruining their drive.  The Mustangs then drove 37-yards in eight plays, featuring a 19-yard pass from Tyler Sterner to Brady Thayer, only to have to punt.

The Wildcats started a drive at the Mustangs 45-yard line after a lengthy punt return.  Three plays later, after a 35-yard scamper by Robert Catchings, Catchings scored on a 2-yard run and the extra point kick by McKinley Curran put the Wildcats up 7-0 at the 5:37 mark of the first quarter.

The Mustangs punted after a six play 19-yard drive.  Malik Lewis returned the punt 77-yards for a touchdown and Curran’s extra point kick put the Wildcats up 14-0 at the 4:15 mark of the first quarter.

The Mustangs then drove 86-yards in five plays, featuring a 66-yard pass from Sterner to Payton Taylor and ending with Sterner’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Logan Bowman.  Brock Geiman’s extra point kick left the Wildcats up 14-7 with 1:30 to go in the first quarter.

The Wildcats then drove 52-yards in ten plays, featuring a 21-yard run by Catchings, and ending with a 3-yard touchdown run by Dezmond Jones.  Curran’s extra point kick put the Wildcats up 21-7 at the 8:35 mark of the second quarter.

The Mustangs and the Wildcats exchanged punts and the Mustangs punted again.  Then the Wildcats drove 52-yards in three plays, runs of 7and 4-yards by Catchings and a 41-yard touchdown run by Jones.  Curran’s extra point kick put the Wildcats up 28-7 with 2:02 left in the second quarter.

The Wildcats opened the second half with a 60-yard drive in nine plays, featuring a 44-yard pass from Andrew Henry to Drew Romesberg.  Curran ended the drive with a 23-yard field goal, upping the score to 31-7 at the 7:28 mark of the third quarter.

The Mustangs then drove 29-yards in six plays, featuring a 15-yard pass from Sterner to Logan Bowman, only to have Malik Lewis intercept a pass at the Wildcats 5-yard line.  The Wildcats then drove 69-yards in seven plays, featuring a 44-yard run by Catchings, and Curran kicked a 43-yard field goal, making the score 34-7 with 1:13 left in the third quarter.

The Mustangs and the Wildcats then exchanged punts.  Then the Mustangs drove 77-yards in nine plays, featuring a 17-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Brock Geiman to Brady Thayer and an 18-yard pass from Geiman to Jordan Markle, and ending with Geiman’s 37-yard touchdown pass to Noah Staub.  Geiman’s extra point kick made the score 34-14 with 5:44 to go in the game.

Gus Landis recovered a Wildcats fumble for the Mustangs at the Wildcats 41-yard line.  Geiman threw a 12-yard pass to Brady Thayer and then sophomore Miles Francis dashed off a 25-yard touchdown jaunt.  Geiman’s extra point kick closed out the scoring at 34-21 in favor of the Wildcats with 2:52 left in the game.

Brock Geiman kicked off 2 times for 64-yards, with the longest going for 38-yards, and punted 7 times for 198-yards (for a 28.29-yard average), with the longest going for 38-yards, for the Mustangs.  Payton Taylor returned 2 kickoffs for 34-yards, with the longest going for 21-yards, and Miles Francis returned 2 punts for 11-yards, with the longest going for 9-yards, for the Mustangs.

Tyler Jachelski, with 6 tackles and 1 pass hurry, led the Mustangs defense, followed by Logan Bowman with 5 tackles and 1 interception, Domnick Holcomb with 5 tackles and 1 sack, Payton Taylor with 5 tackles and 1 pass defense, Gunner Holtz with 4 tackles and 1 sack, Josh Zeroth with 4 tackles and 1 caused fumble, Ryan Lane with 4 tackles, Gus Landis with 3 tackles and 1 recovered fumble, Marcus Jones and Josh Walker with 3 tackles each, Corbin Byers, Matt Helwig, Brock Geiman, Robby Harbison, Ryan Krebs, and Jordan Markle with 2 tackles each, Skylar Bowman, Scotty Dickmyer, Miles Francis, Brandon McMinn, Hunter Palmer, Wyatt Trostle, and Aaron Uttley with 1 tackle each, Bret Hertzog with 1 recovered fumble, and Payton Taylor 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 138-yards rushing and 215-yards passing for a total of 353-yards of offense. Quarterback Tyler Sterner completed 7 of 16 passes for the 131-yards and 1 touchdown, 2 for 74-yards to Payton Taylor, 2 for 32-yards to Logan Bowman (including a 13-yard touchdown), 1 for 19-yards to Brady Thayer, 1 for 5-yards to Hunter Palmer, and 1 for 1-yard to Noah Staub, and sophomore quarterback Brock Geiman completed 4 of 5 passes for 84-yards and 1 touchdown, 1 for 37-yards and a touchdown to Staub, 2 for 29-yards to Thayer, and 1 for 18-yards to Jordan Markle, for the Mustangs.

Miles Francis led the Mustangs rushing attack with 5 carries for 63-yards (including a 25-yard touchdown), followed by Wyatt Trostle with 5 carries for 22-yards, Camden Brown with 8 carries for 21-yards, Jordan Markle with 2 carries for 16-yards, Robby Harbison with 5 carries for 14-yards, Jonas Walter with 2 carries for 4-yards, Geiman with 1 carry for 3-yards, Bret Hertzog with 1 carry for 3-yards, Zach Hughes with 1 carry for minus 2-yards, and Sterner with 8 carries for minus 6-yards.  Brock Geiman kicked 3 extra points, Logan Bowman intercepted a pass, and Bret Hertzog and Gus Landis each recovered a fumble, for the Mustangs.

The Wildcats gained 240-yards rushing and 84 yards passing for a total of 324 yards gained.  Quarterback Andrew Henry completed 6 of 10 passes for 83-yards, 1 for 44-yards to Drew Romesberg, 4 for 27-yards to Malik Lewis, and 1 for 12-yards to Owen Ritter, and Cade Gold completed 1 pass to Jamal McCaskell for 1-yard, for the Wildcats.

Robert Catchings led the Wildcats rushing attack with 20 carries for 176-yards (including a 2-yard touchdown), followed by Dezmond Jones with 5 carries for 49-yards (including touchdowns of 4 and 41-yards,) Lewis with 1 carry for 6-yards, Nick Mabry with 3 carries for 4-yards, Lester McMillian with 1 carry for 3-yards, Sean Roberts with 1 carry for 3-yards, McCaskell with 4 carries for 2-yards, and Henry with 4 carries for minus 3-yards.  Lewis returned a punt 76-yards for a touchdown and intercepted 1 pass and McKinley Curran kicked two field goals (for 23 and 43-yards) and 4 extra points for the Wildcats.

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 pregame 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 119 member strong Wildcats Marching Band thrilled the crowd with their half time show performing the music of the legendary rock group Journey, including “Any Way You Want It,” “Open Arms,” “Separate Ways,” and “Don’t Stop Believin.”

The 27 member strong Mustangs Cheer Leading squad and the Wildcat’s squad were very impressive as they roused the faithful.

The Mustangs of South Western are 2-4-0 overall and 0-1-0 in York Adams Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

The Mustangs have a career record of 340-206-8.  The results of the 554 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .623 winning percentage and a .628 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs host the Panthers of Central York (4-2 overall, 1-0 league).  Central York is coming off of a 27-26 victory over the Rockets of Spring Grove.  The Mustangs are looking to get back on the winning track.  GO MUSTANGS GO.