SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2014-4

By Bill Engelhardt

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Last Friday evening, September 12, the Mustangs of South Western visited the Mid-Penn Commonwealth Division’s Thundering Herd of Carlisle and were defeated 34-23 in another donnybrook.  The game was nip and tuck until DaShawn Millington’s 61-yard touchdown scamper early in the 4th quarter decided it.

The Mustangs opened the game with a ten play 44-yard drive from their own 38-yard line to the Thundering Herd 18-yard line, featuring a few nice runs by Robby Harbison and Brock Geiman’s 4-yard pass to Miles Francis and 9-yard pass to Drew Hartlaub.  Andrew Slater kicked a 35-yard field goal and the Mustangs were up 3-0 at the 8:13 mark of the first quarter.

The Thundering Herd then drove 35-yards in eight plays, only to have a fumble recovered by Corbin Byers for the Mustangs at their 47-yard line.  The Mustangs drove 53-yards in five plays, featuring a 25-yard pass from Geiman to Noah Staub, and ending with Geiman’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Byers.  Slater’s extra point kicked put the Mustangs up 10-0 with 38 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Thundering Herd then drove 73-yards in nine plays, featuring a 13-yard run by Tyler Greene, a 13-yard pass from Billy Burger to Deonte Ramsey, and a 22-yard pass from Burger to Glenn Jackson.  Greene then scored a touchdown on a 4-yard run and Millington ran in for a 2-point conversion, making the score 10-8 in favor of the Mustangs with 8:59 left in the second quarter.

Jackson intercepted a Mustangs pass shortly thereafter at the Mustangs 44-yard line.  Four plays later the Thundering Herd turned the ball over on downs.  The Mustangs got one first down and then punted.

The Thundering Herd drove 93-yards from their own 7-yard line five plays, featuring a 25-yard pass from Burger to Ramsey, and a 56-yard pass from Burger to Zion Patterson.  Greene scored a touchdown on a 1-yard run and the Thundering Herd took the lead 14-10 with 2:46 left in the second quarter.

The Mustangs ended up punting but the Thundering Herd muffed it and Matt Smolko recovered the ball for the Mustangs at the Thundering Herd 12-yard line.  Five plays later Geiman threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Hartlaub and Slater’s extra point kick put the Mustangs back on top 17-14 with 10 seconds left in the half.

Millington returned the second half kickoff 58-yards to the Mustangs 27-yard line.  Two plays later Burger threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Ramsey and Millington threw a 2-point conversion pass to Ramsey.  That put the Thundering Herd back on top 22-17 at the 10:52 mark of the third quarter.

The Mustangs and the Thundering Herd then exchanged punts twice.  The Mustangs then drove 51-yards in seven plays, featuring a 14-yard pass from Geiman to Staub and an 11-yard run by Harbison, and ending with Hartlaub’s 17-yard touchdown run.  The Mustangs went back on top 23-22 with 24 seconds left in the third quarter.

Ramsey returned the kickoff 50-yards for the Thundering Herd, to the Mustangs 35-yard line.  Burger then threw a 29-yard pass to Jackson.  Two plays later Greene scored a touchdown on a 1-yard run, putting the Thundering Herd back on top 28-23 with 11:16 left in the game.

The Mustangs ended up punting to the Thundering Herd 39-yard line.  Millington then scampered 61-yards for a touchdown to close out the scoring at 34-23 in favor of the Thundering Herd, with 9:25 left in the game.

Both teams turned the ball over on downs in subsequent drives.

Andrew Slater kicked off 5 times for 239-yards, with the longest going for 57-yards, and Brock Geiman punted 5 times for 182-yards (for an average of 36.4-yards) with the longest going for 44-yards.  Miles Francis returned 1 punt for 17-yards.  Jeff Green returned 2 kickoffs for 22-yards, with the longest going for 13-yards, Drew Hartlaub returned 1 kickoff for 20-yards, and Francis returned 1 kickoff for 6-yards, for the Mustangs.

Ryan Krebs, with 7 tackles and a caused fumble, led the Mustang defense, followed by Hunter Palmer with 6 tackles and 2 passes defended, Tyler Jachelski with 6 tackles and a pass defense, Tyler Fulmore with 6 tackles and a pass hurry, Corbin Byers with 3 tackles and a recovered fumble, Miles Francis with 3 tackles and a pass hurry, Seth Janney with 3 tackles and a pass hurry, Bret Hertzog, Chris Steckel and Nate VanCampen with 3 tackles each, Matt Smolko with 2 tackles and a recovered fumble, Brady Thayer with 2 tackles and a pass defense, Mike Farace and Zach Hughes with 2 tackles each, Marcus Jones with 1 tackle and a pass defense, and Skylar Bowman, Jeff Green, Gus Landis, and Carson Perry with 1 tackle each.

Luke Baugher, Skylar Bowman, Corbin Byers, Scotty Dickmyer, Mike Farace, Miles Francis, Tyler Fulmore, Matt Helwig, Bret Hertzog, Tyler Jachelski, Marcus Jones, Seth Janney, Josh Martin, Matt Smolko, Chris Steckel, and Josh Zeroth manned the offensive and defensive line and linebacker positions.

Miles Francis, Drew Hartlaub, Ryan Krebs, Hunter Palmer, Brady Thayer and Nate VanCampen patrolled the secondary for the Mustangs.

The Mustangs gained 151-yards rushing and 97-yards passing for a total of 248-yards of offense. Junior quarterback Brock Geiman completed 9 of 24 passes for the 97-yards and 2 touchdowns, 2 for 39-yards to Noah Staub, 1 for 16-yards to Brady Thayer, 2 for 14-yards to Miles Francis, 2 for 11-yards to Drew Hartlaub (including a 1-yard touchdown), 1 for 10-yards and a touchdown to Corbin Byers, and 1 for 7-yards to Robby Harbison, for the Mustangs.  Harbison led the Mustangs rushing attack with16 carries for 67-yards, followed by Hartlaub with 11 carries for 59-yards (including a 17-yard touchdown), Miles Francis with 4 for 17-yards, and Geiman with 8 carries for 8-yards.

Andrew Slater kicked a 35-yard field goal and 2 extra points, Corbin Byers and Matt Smolko each recovered a fumble, Tyler Jachelski defended a pass and hurried a pass, Hunter Palmer defended 2 passes, Brady Thayer and Marcus Jones each defended a pass, Ryan Krebs caused a fumble, and Tyler Fulmore, Miles Francis, and Seth Janney each recorded a pass hurry, for the Mustangs.

The Thundering Herd gained 165-yards rushing and 222 yards passing for a total of 387 yards gained.  Billy Burger completed 16 of 25 passes for 193-yards and DaShawn Millington completed 1 pass for 29-yards, for the Thundering Herd.  Deonte Ramsey caught 9 passes for 80-yards, followed by Glenn Jackson with 5 for 76-yards, Zion Patterson with 1 for 55-yards, Tyler Greene with 1 for 10-yards, and Mike Wuestner who caught 1 pass for 1-yard.  Millington led the Thundering Herd attack with 4 carries for 90-yards (including touchdowns of 3 and 61-yards), followed by Greene with 14 carries for 45-yards (including touchdowns of 4, 1, and 1-yards), Jackson with 4 carries for 26-yards, and Burger with 2 carries for 4-yards.  Millington ran in for a 2-point conversion and threw a 2-point conversion pass to Ramsey, and Jackson intercepted a pass, for the Thundering Herd.

The 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 2014 field show “Nevermore,” based on “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe.  The show opened with the Overture from “Sweeney Todd” by Stephen Sondheim.  Mozart’s 25th Symphony provided the musical material for the first impact before melding into a minor treatment of the “Johanna” theme.  The madness continued with a return to the Overture that dissolved into a final solution.  The Carlisle Thundering Herd Marching Band gave a crowd-pleasing pre-game performance.

The 27 member strong Mustangs Cheer Leading squad (26 girls and a guy) and the Thundering Herd’s’ squad were very impressive as they roused the faithful.

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

The Mustangs have a career record of 341-212-8.  The results of the 561 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .617 winning percentage and a .622 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs host the Colonials of New Oxford (0-3 overall, 0-0 league) to begin YAIAA Division I action for the season.  New Oxford is coming off of a 21-15 loss to the Canners of Biglerville.  The Mustangs are now looking to resume their winning tradition.  GO MUSTANGS GO.