SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2013-11

By Bill Engelhardt

________

Last Friday evening, November 1, the Mustangs of South Western visited the Rockets of Spring Grove and were defeated 31-15.  The Rockets virtually shut down the Mustangs running game and Tyler Sterner’s 217-yard passing game with 2 touchdowns was not enough to defuse the Rockets.

The win vaulted the Rockets from the 17th seed position to the number 13 seed and they will visit the number 4 seed Scouts of Conrad Weiser (7-3 overall, 4-3 Berks Inter-County I) at 7PM on Friday, November 8 in the first round of the District 3 class AAA Playoffs.

The Mustangs came out like a house afire and drove 37-yards in nine plays featuring a 7-yard pass from Sterner to Wyatt Trostle and a 15-yard pass from Sterner to Hunter Palmer, only to have the drive end with a quarterback sack by the Rockets.  The Mustangs punted and the Rockets started at their 1-yard line.  Brandon McMinn intercepted a Rockets pass and the Mustangs were in business at the Rockets 5-yard line.  Three plays later Brock Geiman kicked a 21-yard field goal, putting the Mustangs up 3-0 at the 6:18 mark of the first quarter.

The Rockets then drove 53-yards in eleven plays, only to misfire on a 39-yard field goal attempt.

The Mustangs started at their 20-yard line and after three plays attempted a punt, but an errant snap gave the Rockets the ball on the Mustangs 1-yard line.  After a penalty moved the ball back to the 6, Jeff Delaughter scored a touchdown on a 6-yard run.  Andrew Luckenbaugh’s extra point kick put the Rockets up 7-3 with 5 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Mustangs and the Rockets then exchanged punts and then the Mustangs drove 76-yards in three plays, featuring a 10-yard pass from Sterner to Logan Bowman, and ending with Sterner’s 65-yard touchdown pass to Palmer.  The extra point was missed and the Mustangs were up 9-7 at the 7:24 mark of the second quarter.

The Rockets opened the second half with a ten play 63-yard drive, featuring a 9-yard pass from Seth Hildebrand to Logan Hall and 9-yard run by Hildebrand.  Zack Stauffer scored a touchdown on a 12-yard run and Luckenbaugh’s extra point kick put the Rockets up 14-9 at the 9:18 mark of the third quarter.

The Mustangs went three and out and punted and the Rockets drove 59-yards in twelve plays, featuring two 14-yard passes from Hildebrand to Hall, and ending with Hildebrand’s 1-yard touchdown plunge.  Luckenbaugh’s extra point kick put the Rockets up 21-9 with 2:40 left in the third quarter.

The Mustangs punted again and the Rockets drove 57-yards to the Mustangs 17-yard line.  Then a sack for a 13-yard loss by Gunner Holtz of the Mustangs ended the drive with a missed 40-yard field goal attempt by Luckenbaugh.

The Mustangs punted again and the Rockets drove 53-yards in seven plays, ending with Hildebrand’s 35-yard touchdown pass to Hall.  Luckenbaugh’s extra point kick put the Rockets up 28-9 with 6 minutes left in the game.

The Mustangs then drove 77-yards in five plays, featuring a 15-yard pass from Sterner to Trostle and a 10-yard pass from Sterner to Palmer, and ending with Sterner’s 54-yard touchdown pass to Brady Thayer.  That made the score 28-15 in favor of the Rockets with 4 minutes left in the game.

After an unsuccessful onside kick by the Mustangs the Rockets drove 34-yards in eight plays and Luckenbaugh closed out the scoring with a 40-yard field goal with 58 seconds left in the game.  The final score was 31-15 in favor of the Rockets.

The never say die Mustangs had a 10-yard pass from Sterner to Logan Bowman and a 31-yard run by Sterner but time ran out with the Mustangs on the Rockets 26-yard line.

Brock Geiman kicked off 3 times for 118-yards, with the longest going for 42-yards, and punted 6 times for 233-yards for an average of 38.83-yards, with the longest going for 53-yards, for the Mustangs.  Matt Shanks returned 2 kickoffs for 28-yards, with the longest going for 18-yards, and Jeff green returned 2 punts for 8-yards, with the longest going for 5-yards, for the Mustangs.

Tyler Jachelski, with 14 tackles, led the Mustangs defense, followed by Ryan Lane with 10 tackles, Domnick Holcombe with 9 tackles, Brandon McMinn with 7 tackles and 1 interception returned for 10-yards, Josh Walker with 7 tackles and 1 pass hurry, Payton Taylor with 7 tackles, Gunner Holtz with 4 tackles and 2 sacks for 26-yards in losses, Aaron Uttley with 4 tackles, Jordan Markle with 3 tackles and 1 pass defense, Logan Bowman with 3 tackles, Skylar Bowman, Brock Geiman, and Hunter Palmer, with 2 tackles each, Zach Hughes with 1 tackle, and Brenden Fahs with 1 pass defense.

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 20-yards rushing and 217-yards passing for a total of 237-yards of offense. Quarterback Tyler Sterner completed 12 of 22 passes for 217-yards and 2 touchdowns, 3 for 95-yards to Hunter Palmer (including a 65-yard touchdown), 1 for 54-yards and a touchdown to Brady Thayer, 4 for 34-yards to Logan Bowman, 2 for 22-yards to Wyatt Trostle, 1 for 11-yards to Noah Staub, and 1 for 1-yard to Jordan Markle, for the Mustangs.

Tyler Sterner led the Mustangs rushing attack with 5 carries for 15-yards, followed by Robby Harbison with 6 carries for 11-yards, Jonas Walter with 6 carries for 10-yards, Trostle with 6 carries for 8-yards, Miles Francis with 2 carries for 0-yards, Camden Brown with 2 carries for minus 1-yard, and a team loss of 23-yards on a bad snap on an attempted punt.  Geiman kicked a 21-yard field goal, Brandon McMinn intercepted a pass, and Gunner Holtz recorded 2 sacks for 26-yards in losses, for the Mustangs.

The Rockets gained 240-yards rushing and 123- yards passing for a total of 363 yards gained. 

Quarterback Seth Hildebrand completed 8 of 15 passes for 123-yards and 1 touchdown for 42-yards, all to Logan Hall who has 55 receptions for 930-yards and 10 touchdowns for the season.

Jeff Delaughter led the Rockets rushing attack with 31 carries for 159-yards (including a 1-yard touchdown), followed by Zack Stauffer with 9 carries for 48-yards, Seth Hildebrand with 17 carries for 30-yards, Trey Baker with 3 carries for 10-yards, and Shay Feulmer with 1 carry for minus 7-yards.  Andrew Luckenbaugh kicked a 40-yard field goal and 4 extra points for the Rockets.  Delaughter, who had already broken the school career rushing record, has 184 carries for 1,455-yards for the season so far.

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 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 33 member strong Rockets “Blue Crew” Marching Band presented their show “Dust to Dawn,” featuring the selections “Danse Macabre,” “New World,” and “Night On Bald Mountain,” after the game.

The 26 member strong Mustangs Cheer Leading squad and the Rockets squad were very impressive as they roused the faithful.

The Mustangs of South Western ended their season at 3-7-0 overall and 1-4-0 in York Adams Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

The Mustangs have a career record of 341-209-8.  The results of the 558 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .620 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 20 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:  Richard Bosse, Logan Bowman, Camden Brown, Brenden Fahs, Steven Foster, Tyler Hoke, Domnick Holcombe, Gunner Holtz, Tyler Kohler, Ryan Lane, Jordan Markle, Brandon McMinn, Zach Osborne, Elder Sterner, Tyler Sterner, Payton Taylor, Dillon Thomas, Wyatt Trostle, Aaron Uttley, and Joshua Walker.  And we want to also say thank you and goodbye to the three senior team managers, Joshua Coggins, Cody Dunlap, and Dakota Goldbeck.

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 for 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 a very timely basis.

The 2013 edition of the Mustangs of South Western gave their fans lots of excitement and thrills.

Despite being injured for a good part of the season, Dillon Thomas led the team in rushing this season with 65 carries for 485-yards and 5 touchdowns.  He rushed for 1,058-yards and 15 touchdowns in his sophomore year and 1,541-yards and 17 touchdowns as a junior.  He ended his career with a school record 3,084-yards rushing, breaking the old record of 2,871-yards set by Allen Bittinger.  His 37 rushing touchdowns put him in second place behind Mike Felton’s 47 touchdowns in school history.

Brock Geiman kicked 25 extra points and 2 field goals for the season.  He also punted 39 times for 1,323-yards, for an average of 33.92-yards.  His 25 extra points will put him in the “Keystone Club” at the Pennsylvania Football News.

Tyler Sterner completed 74 of 173 passes for 1,289-yards (putting him in the Keystone Club) and 15 touchdowns.  Brock Geiman chipped in with 7 completions and 1 touchdown on 13 attempts.  The team totaled 81 completions on 187 attempts for 1,445-yards and 16 touchdowns.  The team season passing yardage is the second highest in school history, behind only 2009s 1,583-yards.

Sterner’s 1,289 passing yards is the second best in school history, behind only Ian Smith’s 1,483-yards in 2009.

Sterner’s 15 touchdown passes is the third best in school history, behind J. C. Laughlin’s 20 in 2006 and Ian Smith’s 16 in 2009.

Sterner’s 19 career touchdown passes is the fifth best in school history.  J. C. Laughlin still leads the pack with 29.

The season pass reception leaders were Logan Bowman with 16 for 294-yards and 4 touchdowns, followed by Noah Staub with 14 for 251-yards and 4 touchdowns, Brady Thayer with 10 for 228-yards and 2 touchdowns, Hunter Palmer with 7 for 148-yards and 2 touchdowns, Camden Brown with 7 for 98-yards, Brandon McMinn with 3 for 95-yards and 3 touchdowns, Jordan Markle with 6 for 85-yards, Payton Taylor with 2 for 74-yards, Miles Francis with 3 for 61-yards, Wyatt Trostle with 4 for 51-yards, Dillon Thomas with 7 for 32-yards, and Bret Hertzog with 2 for 28-yards and 1 touchdown.

Dillon Thomas’ team leading rushing record was followed by Camden Brown with 95 carries for 391-yards and 3 touchdowns, Miles Francis with 35 carries for 219-yards and 1 touchdown, Jordan Markle with 23 carries for 178-yards and 1 touchdown, Wyatt Trostle with 42 carries for 169-yards and 1 touchdown, Jonas Walter with 45 carries for 167-yards, Robby Harbison with 49 carries for 150-yards and 1 touchdown, Tyler Sterner with 44 carries for 44-yards and 1 touchdown, Brock Geiman with 5 carries for 36-yards, Bret Hertzog with 7 carries for 32-yards and 1 touchdown, Payton Taylor with 6 carries for 30-yards, Jeff Green with 1 carry for minus 2-yards, Zach Hughes with 1 carry for minus 2-yards, and Ryan Krebs with 1 carry for minus 3-yards.  There was a team loss of 26-yards on 4 carries.  There was a net of 423 carries for 1,868-yards and 14 rushing touchdowns for the season.

Brock Geiman led the team in scoring with 31 points, from 25 extra points and 2 field goals, followed by Dillon Thomas with 30 points on 5 touchdowns, Logan Bowman and Noah Staub each with 24 points on 4 touchdowns, Camden Brown and Brandon McMinn each with 18 points on 3 touchdowns, Bret Hertzog, Jordan Markle, Hunter Palmer, and Brady Thayer each with 12 points on 2 touchdowns, and Miles Francis, Robby Harbison, Tyler Sterner, and Wyatt Trostle each with 6 points on 1 touchdown.  The team scored 217 points for the season.

There were 2 players with at least 50 tackles for the season, Tyler Jachelski with 74, and Ryan Lane with 54.  Logan Bowman with 49 and Payton Taylor with 44 tackles weren’t far behind.

Gunner Holtz led the team with 7 sacks on the season, followed by Skylar Bowman with 3, Domnick Holcombe with 2, and Tyler Jachelski, Ryan Krebs, Brandon McMinn, Wyatt Trostle, and Josh Walker, each with 1 sack.  There was a team total of 17 sacks for the season.

The 2013 Mustangs represented their school and league honorably, played hard, and never gave up.  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 have some really promising players.  I can’t wait for next season to begin.  Until then, GO MUSTANGS GO.