SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2014-11

By Bill Engelhardt

________

Last Friday evening, October 31, the Mustangs of South Western hosted the Rockets of Spring Grove at the Mustang Corral and galloped and passed their way to a 28-10 season ending victory.  The passing and rushing yards were nearly equal but the game rode the strong passing arm of junior quarterback Brock Geiman, who accounted for 133-yards and 2 touchdowns.  He set a new school record for season passing yards with 1,489-yards, eclipsing the 2009 record of 1,483-yards by Ian Smith.

The Rockets started off the game with a three and out, including a sack for a 5-yard loss by Seth Janney, and punted.  The Mustangs returned the favor and punted after a six-play drive, but the Rockets muffed the punt and Luke Baugher recovered the ball for the Mustangs at the Rockets 31-yard line.  A three-play drive, featuring a 25-yard pass from Geiman to Brady Thayer, ended with a 12-yard touchdown run by Robby Harbison.  Andrew Slater kicked the extra point and the Mustangs led 7-0 at the 5:50 mark of the first quarter.

The Rockets retaliated immediately with a four play 70-yard drive, featuring a 64-yard touchdown run by Shay Feulmer.  Andrew Luckenbaugh’s extra point kick tied the game at 7 with 4:31 left in the first quarter.

Miles Francis returned the Rockets kickoff 57-yards, setting the Mustangs up on the Rockets 30-yard line.  Harbison ran for 15-yards and 1-yard and then Geiman threw a 14-yard touchdown strike to Noah Staub.  Slater’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 14-7 at the 3:16 mark of the first quarter.

The Rockets then drove 54-yards in five plays, featuring a 40-yard pass from Otacolius Chisolm to Shay Feulmer and an 11-yard pass from Jacob Messersmith to Logan Hall.  The drive ended with Andrew Luckenbaugh’s 39-yard field goal kick, making the score 14-10 in favor of the Mustangs with 19 seconds left in the first quarter.

The second quarter consisted of several exchanges of punts, with a 25-yard field goal attempt by Luckenbaugh for the Rockets that misfired mixed in.

The Mustangs opened the second half with a short drive that ended with an interception for the Rockets by Brandon Trasker.  The Mustangs soon returned the favor when Ryan Krebs intercepted a Rockets pass.at the Mustangs 9-yard line.  The Mustangs ended up punting and the Rockets only got off four plays before Darius Rowlette intercepted a pass and returned it 10-yards for the Mustangs.

Four plays later Geiman scampered 61-yards for a touchdown.  Slater’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 21-10 with 1:08 left in the third quarter.

Feulmer returned the Mustangs kickoff 73-yards to the Mustangs 26-yard line for the Rockets.  However, the Rockets turned the ball over on downs at the 17-yard line.  The Mustangs ended up punting but the Rockets only got in two incomplete pass attempts before Zach Hughes intercepted a Rockets pass and returned it 19-yards for the Mustangs.

The Mustangs drove 58-yards in three plays, featuring a 21-yard run by Geiman and ending with his 41-yard touchdown pass to Staub.  Slater’s extra point kick closed out the scoring at 28-10 in favor of the Mustangs with 7:07 left in the game.

Andrew Slater kicked off 5 times for 287-yards, with 1 touchback, and Brock Geiman punted 6 times for 194-yards (for an average of 32.3-yards) with the longest going for 44-yards.  Miles Francis returned 1 kickoff for 57-yards and Jeff Green returned 1 kickoff for 21-yards for the Mustangs.

Tyler Jachelski, with 12 tackles, led the Mustangs defense, followed by Tyler Fulmore with 11 tackles, 1 pass defense and1 pass hurry, Ryan Krebs with 10 tackles, 1 interception and 1 pass defense, Josh Zeroth with 9 tackles and 1 pass hurry, Hunter Palmer with 9 tackles, Zach Hughes with 4 tackles and 1 interception returned for 19-yards, Seth Janney with 4 tackles and 1 sack for a 5-yard loss, Luke Baugher with 4 tackles, 1 fumble recovery and 1 pass defense, Brady Thayer with 4 tackles, Gus Landis with 2 tackles and 1 caused fumble, Miles Francis, Marcus Jones, Evan Raubenstine, and Andrew Slater with 2 tackles each, Andrew Feeser and Nate VanCampen with 1 tackle each, Darius Rowlette with 1 interception returned for 10-yards and 2 pass defenses, and Matt Smolko with 1 pass hurry.

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.

Ryan Krebs, Hunter Palmer, Brady Thayer and Nate VanCampen, with help from Darius Rowlette, patrolled the secondary for the Mustangs.

The Mustangs gained 176-yards rushing and 133-yards passing for a total of 309-yards of offense. Junior quarterback Brock Geiman completed 8 of 18 passes for the 133-yards and 2 touchdowns (setting a new school record for season passing yards with 1,489), 5 for 93-yards to Noah Staub (including touchdowns of 14 and 41-yards) and 3 for 40-yards to Brady Thayer, for the Mustangs.

Geiman led the Mustangs rushing attack with 6 carries for 93-yards (including a 61-yard touchdown), followed by Robby Harbison with 15 carries for 45-yards (including a 12-yard touchdown), Miles Francis with 6 carries for 27-yards, Bret Hertzog with 5 carries for 9-yards, and Drew Hartlaub with 1 carry for 5-yards.

Andrew Slater kicked 4 extra points, Darius Rowlette intercepted 1 pass and returned it for 10-yards, and defended 2 passes, Ryan Krebs intercepted 1 pass and defended 1 pass, Zach Hughes intercepted 1 pass and returned it for 19-yards, Luke Baugher recovered 1 fumble and defended 1 pass, Seth Janney recorded 1 sack for a 5-yard loss, Tyler Fulmore defended 1 pass and recorded 1 pass hurry, Gus Landis caused 1 fumble, and Matt Smolko and Josh Zeroth each recorded 1 pass hurry, for the Mustangs.

The Rockets gained 160-yards rushing and 130 yards passing for a total of 290 yards gained.  Quarterback Jake Messersmith completed 8 of 21 passes for 65-yards, 4 for 30-yards to Logan Hall, 2 for 18-yards to J. Adam Warehime, and 2 for 17-yards to Otacolius Chisolm, Chisolm completed 1 pass for 40-yards to Shay Feulmer, and Feulmer completed 1 of 2 passes for 25-yards to Hall, for the Rockets.

Feulmer led the Rockets rushing attack with 16 carries for 130-yards (including a 64-yard touchdown), followed by Nick Erickson with 4 carries for 23-yards, Messersmith with 3 carries for minus 1-yard, and Chisolm with 1 carry for minus 4-yards.

Andrew Luckenbaugh kicked a 39-yard field goal and1 extra point and Brandon Tasker intercepted 1 pass, for the Rockets.

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 67-member New Oxford Colonials Marching Band gave a crowd-pleasing half time performance of its show “Spring Awakens.”

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

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

The Mustangs have a career record of 346-214-8.  The results of the 568 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .618 winning percentage and a .623 non-losing percentage.

We bid a fond and tearful farewell and offer our best wishes for the future to the 19 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:  Trevor Bankert, Luke Baugher, Brock Cookerly, Andrew Feeser, Matt Helwig, Bret Hertzog, Tyler Jachelski, Marcus Jones, Ryan Krebs, Gus Landis, Josh Martin, Mitch Muir, Jesse Myers, Hunter Palmer, Darius Rowlette, Andrew Slater, Thomas Sneeringer, Brady Thayer, and Jonas Walter.

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 2014 edition of the Mustangs of South Western gave their fans lots of excitement and thrills.

Junior Brock Geiman, who still has another year to add to his record setting accomplishments, completed 88 of 174 passes for 1,489-yards and 14 touchdowns.  The yardage set a new school season passing record, eclipsing the 2009 record of 1,483-yards by Ian Smith.  The 14 touchdowns thrown tied him with David Sager for 4th best in school history.  His passing yardage also places the team in 2nd place for team passing yardage for a season in school history.  First place belongs to the 2009 team with 1,583-yards.

Junior Noah Staub, who still has another year to add to his record setting accomplishments, already is in the record book four times.  His 683 career pass reception yards puts him in 5th place in school history, replacing Bob Fleming’s 651-yards in the top 5.  His 28 pass receptions for the season puts him in 5th place in school history.  His 42 pass receptions for his career to date puts him in 4th place in school history.  And his 9 touchdown receptions for his career to date puts him in a tie with Corry Rutters for 5th place in school history.

The season pass reception leaders were Drew Hartlaub with 18 for 481-yards and 5 touchdowns, followed by Noah Staub with 28 for 432-yards and 5 touchdowns, Miles Francis with 14 for 188-yards and 1 touchdown, Brady Thayer with 10 for 161-yards and 2 touchdowns, Robby Harbison with 6 for 99-yards, Corbin Byers with 4 for 36-yards and 1 touchdown, Bret Hertzog with 2 for 25-yards, Zach Hughes with 2 for 21-yards, and Seth Janney with 1 for 13-yards.  There were a total of 88 receptions for 1,489-yards and 14 touchdowns.

Drew Hartlaub’s 481-yards in pass receptions is 4th best in school history.

Robby Harbison led the team in rushing this season with 151 carries for 629-yards and 4 touchdowns, followed by Drew Hartlaub with 71 carries for 382-yards and 6 touchdowns, Miles Francis with 56 carries for 215-yards and 6 touchdowns, Brock Geiman with 47 carries for 130-yards and 4 touchdowns, Bret Hertzog with 33 carries for 125-yards and 2 touchdowns, Josh Martin with 2 carries for 9-yards, and Zach Hughes with 7 carries for 8-yards.  There was a team loss of 20-yards on 10 carries.  There was a total of 380 carries for 1,500-yards and 22 rushing touchdowns for the season.  You’d have to call that a very balanced offense with only 11-yards separating the passing and rushing totals for the season.

Drew Hartlaub led the team in scoring with 84 points on 14 touchdowns, followed by Miles Francis with 42 points on 7 touchdowns, Noah Staub with 30 points on 5 touchdowns, Andrew Slater with 30 points on 27 extra points and 1 field goal, Brock Geiman with 26 points on 4 touchdowns and 2 extra point kicks, Robby Harbison with 24 points on 4 touchdowns, Brady Thayer with 18 points on 3 touchdowns, Bret Hertzog with 12 points on 2 touchdowns, Corbin Byers with 8 points on 1 touchdown and a 2-point conversion, and Seth Janney with 2 points on a safety.  The team scored 276 points for the season.

There were 4 players with at least 50 tackles for the season, Tyler Jachelski with 86, Ryan Krebs with 70, Seth Janney with 51, and Tyler Fulmore with 50.  Hunter Palmer with 45 tackles wasn’t far behind.

Seth Janney led the team with 7 sacks on the season, followed by Luke Baugher with 5, and Tyler Fulmore and Josh Zeroth with 1 sack each.  There was a team total of 14 sacks for the season.

The team registered 13 interceptions, Ryan Krebs with 6, Brady Thayer with 3, Zach Hughes with 2, and Miles Francis and Darius Rowlette with 1 each, and 8 fumble recoveries, Luke Baugher with 3, Matt Smolko with 2, and Corbin Byers, Tyler Fulmore, and Tyler Jachelski, with 1 each.

Ryan Krebs’ 6 interceptions for the season puts him in a 5-way tie for 3rd place in school history, with Duane Rowlette (2007), Doug Seidenstricker (1990), Andy Stauffer (1984), and Paige Wingert (1982).

Andrew Slater kicked 27 extra points and 1 field goal for the season.  He also kicked off 42 times for 2,034-yards and 2 touchbacks.  His 27 extra points will put him in the “Keystone Club” at the Pennsylvania Football News.

The 2014 Mustangs represented their school and league honorably, played hard, and never gave up.  They have a great nucleus of returning players from the varsity and the junior varsity and solid players coming up within the ranks.  And the distant future looks bright as well, as the freshmen team has a 7-0-1 record with 1 game to go.  I can’t wait for next season to begin.  Until then, GO MUSTANGS GO.