SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2014-9

By Bill Engelhardt

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Last Friday evening, October 17, the Mustangs of South Western hosted the Bearcats of William Penn (York High) and galloped and passed to a convincing 41-29 victory.  The Mustangs rang up 18 first downs and six runners galloped up and down the field.  Some timely passes gained more than a few of those first downs as junior quarterback Brock Geiman went over the 200-yard passing mark for the third week in a row.

The Mustangs opened the game with a 2 play 81-yard drive.  Geiman threw a 42-yard pass to Robby Harbison and a 39-yard touchdown pass to Drew Hartlaub.  Andrew Slater’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 7-0 thirty seconds into the game.

Sae’Quan Whitaker returned the kickoff 49-yards, setting the Bearcats up on the Mustangs 18-yard line.  James Way II threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Bryshon Sweeney and the extra point attempt failed.  The Mustangs led 7-6 at the 11:10 mark of the first quarter.

The Mustangs then had a drive ended when Whitaker intercepted a Geiman pass.  The Mustangs soon returned the favor when Tyler Fulmore recovered a Bearcats’ fumble.  The Mustangs then drove 77-yards in eleven plays, featuring a 14-yard run by Robby Harbison and a 15-yad pass from Geiman to Harbison.  Hartlaub ended the drive with an 18-yard touchdown scamper.  Slater’s extra point kick upped the score to 14-6 in favor of the Mustangs with 1:59 remaining in the first quarter.

The Bearcats then drove 45-yards in ten plays, ending with a 14-yard touchdown run by quarterback James Way III.  Way III threw a 2-point conversion pass to Danny Acevedo and the game was tied at 14 at the 7:01 mark of the second quarter.

The Mustangs drove 54-yards in six plays, featuring a 36-yard pass from Geiman to Hartlaub and ending with a 4-yard touchdown run by Miles Francis.  Slater’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 21-14 at the 4:25 mark of the second quarter.

The Bearcats had a short drive thwarted when Ryan Krebs intercepted a Way III pass and the Mustangs drove 28-yards in one play with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Geiman to Noah Staub.  Slater’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 28-14 with 3:17 left in the second quarter.

The Bearcats then drove 81-yards in ten plays, featuring a 15-yard run by Way III an 11-yard pass from Way III to Nate Delmotte, and ending with a 27-yard touchdown pass from Way III to Acevedo.  Ethan Fogelman kicked the extra point and the score was 28-21 in favor of the Mustangs with 19 seconds left in the first half.

The Bearcats ended up punting from deep in their own territory on their first possession of the second half.  The Mustangs drove 40-yards in three plays, runs of 8 and 22-yards by Harbison, and a 10-yard touchdown run by Francis.  The extra point was missed and the Mustangs were up 34-21 at the 8:15 point in the third quarter.

Whitaker returned the Mustangs kickoff 53-yards to the Mustangs 25-yard line.  The Bearcats turned the ball over on downs on the Mustangs 24-yard line.  The Mustangs then drove 76-yards in nine plays, featuring a 20-yard run by Francis, a 19-yard run by Harbison, a 19-yard pass from Geiman to Bret Hertzog, and ending with a 3-yard touchdown run by Hertzog.  Slater’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 41-21 at the 3:34 point in the third quarter.

Whitaker returned the Mustangs kickoff 72-yards to the Mustangs 21-yard line.  However, after The Mustangs’ Seth Janney sacked Way III for an 11-yard loss the Bearcats turned the ball over on downs.  The Mustangs then drove 43-yards before turning the ball over on downs at the Bearcats 31-yard line.

Ryan Krebs intercepted his second pass of the game for the Mustangs on the Bearcats next drive, but the Mustangs ended up punting.  The Bearcats then drove 84-yards in four plays, featuring a 47-yard run by Bryshon Sweeney.  Zack Ingram ended the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run.  Sweeney ran in for a 2-point conversion and that made the final score 41-29 in favor of the Mustangs with 7:02 left in the game.

Whitaker’s 5 kickoff returns for 202-yards, for a 40.4-yard average, had kept it interesting for the Bearcats.  But that wasn’t enough to overcome the Mustangs stampede.

Andrew Slater kicked off 7 times for 328-yards, with the longest going for 56-yards, and Brock Geiman punted 2 times for 58-yards (for an average of 29.0-yards) with the longest going for 34-yards.  Roby Harbison returned 2 kickoffs for 22-yards, with the longest going foe 14-yards, Miles Francis returned1 kickoff for 15-yards, Jonas Walter returned 1 kickoff for 9-yards, and Drew Hartlaub returned 1 kickoff for 5-yards, and Francis returned 1 punt for 16-yards for the Mustangs.

Tyler Jachelski, with 10 tackles and 1 pass hurry, led the Mustangs defense, followed by Ryan Krebs with 6 tackles and 2 interceptions, Gus Landis with 5 tackles and 3 pass hurries, Tyler Fulmore with 4 tackles, 1 fumble recovery, and 1 pass hurry, Corbin Byers and Matt Smolko with 4 tackles each, Seth Janney with 3 tackles and 1 sack for an 11-yard loss, Luke Baugher with 3 tackles and 1 pass hurry, Hunter Palmer and Andrew Slater with 3 tackles each, Josh Zeroth with 2 tackles and 3 pass hurries, Josh Martin with 2 tackles and 2 pass hurries, Brady Thayer and Nate VanCampen with 2 tackles and 1 pass defense each, and Miles Francis, Zach Hughes, and Chris Steckel with 1 tackle each.

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

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

The Mustangs gained 228-yards rushing and 203-yards passing for a total of 431-yards of offense. Junior quarterback Brock Geiman completed 9 of 16 passes for the 203-yards and 2 touchdowns, 2 for 75-yards to Drew Hartlaub (including a 39-yard touchdown), 3 for 67-yards to Robby Harbison, 2 for 37-yards to Noah Staub (including a 28-yard touchdown), 1 for 19-yards to Bret Hertzog, and 1 for 5-yards to Miles Francis, for the Mustangs.

Robby Harbison led the Mustangs rushing attack with 13 carries for 100-yards, followed by Francis with 9 carries for 47-yards (including touchdowns of 4 and 10-yards), Hertzog with 9 carries for 33-yards (including a 3-yard touchdown), Hartlaub with 5 carries for 29-yards, (including an 18-yard touchdown), Tyler Fulmore with 3 carries for 22-yards, and Geiman with 3 carries for minus 1-yard.

Andrew Slater kicked 5 extra points, Ryan Krebs recovered 2 fumbles, Tyler Fulmore recovered 1 fumble and recorded 1 pass hurry, Seth Janney recorded 1 sack for an 11-yard loss, Gus Landis and Josh Zeroth each recorded 3 pass hurries, Josh Martin recorded 2 pass hurries, Luke Baugher and Tyler Jachelski each recorded 1 pass hurry, and Brady Thayer and Nate VanCampen each defended 1 pass, for the Mustangs.

The Bearcats gained 141-yards rushing and 105 yards passing for a total of 246 yards gained.  James Way III completed 9 of 21 passes for the 105-yards and 2 touchdowns, 4 for 42-yards to Nate Delmotte, 2 for 28-yards to Danny Acevedo (including a 27-yard touchdown), 1 for 18-yards and a touchdown to Bryshon Sweeney, and 2 for 17-yards to Sae’Quan Whitaker, for the Bearcats. 

Sweeney led the Bearcats rushing attack with 13 carries for 88-yards, followed by Way III with 15 carries for 52-yards (including a 14-yard touchdown), and Zack Ingram with 3 carries for 1-yard (including a 3-yard touchdown).

Way III threw a 2-point conversion pass to Acevedo, Sweeney ran in for a 2-point conversion, Ethan Fogleman kicked 1 extra point, and Whitaker intercepted a pass, for the Bearcats.

On Band Night at the Mustang Corral the 125 member strong Emory H Markle Intermediate School Marching Band put on a pre-game show featuring a Latin piece “El Conquistador.”  The Mustangs Marching Band then joined the show and the combined bands performed “Gimme Some Lovin” and closed the pre-game show with The Fighting Mustang song, “Victors.”

The 66-member 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 post game performance, presenting their 2014 field show “Nevermore,” based on “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe, on Band Night.  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 ballad began with beautiful sonorities from the front ensemble.  Freshman trumpet soloist, John Dyson, introduced the ‘Johanna’ theme as the narrator’s thoughts turn to his lost love, Lenore.  The passion built to a climax as he longed to be reunited with her, but alas, they shall be together, nevermore.  The closer brought a return to the narrator’s earlier thoughts as he peers deep into the darkness.  The music reached an emotional culmination with the Mozart and Verdi Requiems, before the percussion section took over with a short feature.

The 55-member William Penn Bearcats Marching Band gave a crowd-pleasing half-time performance of its show “When Music Was Music: A Tribute to the Rock Bands of the 1970s,” including “Rock and Roll All Nite,” Stairway to Heaven,” and “Dream On.”

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

The Mustangs of South Western are 3-5-0 overall and 3-2-0 in York Adams Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

The Mustangs have a career record of 344-214-8.  The results of the 566 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 visit the Bobcats of Northeastern (4-4 overall, 1-4 league).  Northeastern is coming off of a 27-10 victory over the Rockets of Spring Grove.  The Mustangs are looking to remain on the winning track.  GO MUSTANGS GO.