SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2015-4

By Bill Engelhardt

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Last Friday evening, September 18, the Mustangs of South Western hosted the Mid-Penn Commonwealth Division’s Thundering Herd of Carlisle and came away with a 17-14 victory in a thriller.  The Thundering Herd had racked up 103 points and an impressive 719-yards and 8 touchdowns passing in their first 2 games, but were effectively kept off the scoreboard for the most part by the Mustangs defense.  Wes Sneeringer’s 26-yard field goal for the Mustangs was the difference in the game.

The Mustangs went three and out and punted to open the game and the Thundering Herd drove 21-yards in seven plays.  However, the drive ended when they turned the ball over on downs.

The Mustangs drove 61-yards in seven plays, featuring a 30-yard pass from Brock Geiman to Noah Staub, and ending with Geiman’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Green.  Sneeringer’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 7-0 at the 5:30 mark of the first quarter.

The Thundering Herd went three and out (three incomplete passes) and punted.  The Mustangs then drove 26-yards in seven plays, featuring a 17-yard pass from Geiman to DeSean Crump, only to turn the ball over on downs.

The Thundering Herd drove 44-yards to the Mustangs 26-ysrd line but the drive ended when Staub intercepted a pass and the Mustangs took over on their own 14-yard line.  The Mustangs drove 46-yards and quick kicked on a 4th down play.  The Thundering Herd came to life and drove 64-yards but the drive ended when Carson Perry intercepted a pass for the Mustangs.

The Mustangs ended up punting and the Thundering Herd drove 72-yards in seven plays ending with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Eric Harris to Gavyn Barnes.  The extra point attempt was missed and the Mustangs led 7-6 with 1:14 left in the first half.

The Thundering Herd opened the second half with a short drive that ended on the third play when Miles Francis intercepted a pass for the Mustangs.  The Mustangs then drove 50-yards in twelve plays, featuring a 17-yard pass from Geiman to Zach Hughes, and ending with Geiman’s nifty 6-yard touchdown jaunt.  Sneeringer’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 14-6 with 5:11 to go in the 3rd quarter.

The Thundering Herd then drove 57-yards, only to turn the ball over on downs at the Mustangs 10-yard line.  The Mustangs managed to get out to the 28-yard line and punted.  The Thundering Herd drove 16-yards to the Mustangs 28-yard line but turned the ball over on downs after four successive incomplete passes.

The Mustangs then drove 63-yards in nine plays, featuring a 15-yard pass from Geiman to Corbin Byers, a 15-yard run by Nigel Williams, and a 22-yard run by Tyler Fulmore.  The drive ended with Sneeringer’s 26-yard field goal, putting the Mustangs up 17-6 with 6:07 left in the game.

The Thundering Herd quickly drove 71-yards, thanks to a 67-yard pass from Harris to Gavyn Barnes, and Harris threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Nate Barnes.  A 2-point conversion pass from Gavyn Barnes to Jordan Purcell made the final score 17-14 in favor of the Mustangs with 4:57 left in the game.

The excitement wasn’t over yet.  The Mustangs ended up punting and the Thundering Herd came thundering back.  A 34-yard pass from Harris to Nate Barnes to the Mustangs 28-yard line was negated by a holding penalty.  The Thundering Herd then turned the ball over on downs and the Mustangs ran out the clock with two Geiman kneel downs.

Wes Sneeringer kicked off 4 times for 190-yards, for an average of 47.5-yards, with the longest going for 56-yards, and Brock Geiman punted 5 times for 186-yards (for an average of 37.2-yards) with the longest going for 56-yards.  Miles Francis returned 1 kickoff for 4-yards and Michael Johnson returned 1 kickoff for 4-yards, for the Mustangs.

Tyler Fulmore, with 14 tackles, led the Mustang defense, followed by Mike Farace with 12 tackles, Corbin Byers, with 7 tackles, 5 pass hurries and 2 passes defended, Bubba Carbaugh with 6 tackles and 1 pass defended, Skylar Bowman with 6 tackles and 1 pass hurry, Zach Hughes with 6 tackles and 1 pass defended, Matt Smolko with 5 tackles and 2 passes defended, Nate VanCampen with 5 tackles and 1 pass defended, Noah Staub with 4 tackles, 1 interception returned for 3-yards, and 1 pass defended, Miles Francis with 3 tackles, 1 interception returned for 9-yards, and 1 pass defended, Carson Perry with 3 tackles and 1 interception returned for 35-yards, Chris Steckel with 3 tackles and 1 pass hurry, Michael Johnson with 3 tackles, Quan Marshall with 2 tackles and 1 pass hurry, Brock Geiman and Evan Raubenstine with 2 tackles each, and Kaiden Gaylord, Josh Higdon, and Noah Langenfeld with 1 tackle each.

Skylar Bowman, Corbin Byers, Bubba Carbaugh, Scotty Dickmyer, Mike Farace, Tyler Fulmore, Zach Hughes, Quan Marshall, Austin Reusing, Matt Smolko and Chris Steckel, manned the offensive and defensive line and linebacker positions, with help from Logan Toms, and a host of other players coming in.

DeSean Crump, Miles Francis, Brock Geiman, Jeff Green, Noah Staub, and Nate VanCampen patrolled the secondary for the Mustangs.

The Mustangs gained 169-yards rushing and 104-yards passing for a total of 273-yards of offense. Senior quarterback Brock Geiman completed 7 of 14 passes for the 104-yards and 1 touchdown, 1 for 30-yards to Noah Staub, 2 for 23-yards to DeSean Crump, 2 for 19-yards to Jeff Green (including a 14-yard touchdown), 1 for 17-yards to Zach Hughes, and 1 for 15-yards to Corbin Byers, for the Mustangs.  Tyler Fulmore led the Mustangs rushing attack with 19 carries for 93-yards, followed by Nigel Williams with 5 for 28, Geiman with 5 for 19 (including a 6-yard touchdown), Crump with 6 for 14, Hughes with 3 for 9, Miles Francis with 1 for 4, Jacob Muir with 1 for 4-yards, Green with 4 carries for no yards, and a team loss of 2-yards.

Wes Sneeringer kicked a 26-yard field goal and 2 extra points, Carson Perry intercepted 1 pass and returned it 35-yards, Francis intercepted 1 pass and returned it 9-yards and recorded 1 pass defense, Staub intercepted 1 pass and returned it 3-yards and recorded 1 pass defense, Corbin Byers recorded 5 pass hurries and 2 defended passes, Matt Smolko recorded 2 defended passes, Skylar Bowman recorded 1 pass hurry and 1 pass defense, Quan Marshall, and Chris Steckel each recorded 1 pass hurry, and Bubba Carbaugh, Zach Hughes, and Nate VanCampen each recorded 1 pass defense, for the Mustangs.

The Thundering Herd gained only 32-yards rushing and 331 yards passing for a total of 363 yards gained.  Eric Harris completed 28 of 45 passes for the 331-yards, 9 for 149-yards to Gavyn Barnes, 6 for 87-yards to Zion Patterson, 6 for 58-yards to Nate Barnes, 3 for 26-yards to Trai Powell, and 3 for 11-yards to DeShawn Millington.  Tyler Greene led the Thundering Herd rushing attack with 12 carries for 44-yards, followed by Nate Barnes with 2 for 7-yards, Rojen Procopio with 3 for minus 4-yards, Millington with 1 carry for minus 5-yards, and Gavyn Barnes with 2 carries for minus 10-yards.  Gavyn Barnes threw a 2-point conversion pass to Jordan Purcell for the Thundering Herd.

The10-time Cavalcade of Bands, 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 2015 field show “What If,” a musical and visual depiction of the process of implementing a change and making a difference.  The music is based on Michael Kamen’s “The New Moon in the Old Moon’s Arms.”  The show began with the inception of the idea or change, represented with the theme played by trumpet soloist Veronica Hurst.  Further numbers reflected the encountering of obstacles and challenges standing in the way of goals and a moment of reflection on the purpose and nature of change.  The closer continued to build upon the hope of this change and reached a climax where the change was successful.  The show ended with the fleeting sounds of the musical theme played by trumpet soloist John Dyson.

The 21 member Mustangs Cheer Leading Squad and the Colts Cheer Leading squad were both very impressive as they roused the faithful.

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

The Mustangs have a career record of 348-215-8.  The results of the 571 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .618 winning percentage and a .623 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs visit the Colonials of New Oxford (1-2 overall, 0-0 league) to begin YAIAA Division I action for the season.  New Oxford is coming off of a 27-13 loss to the Canners of Biglerville.  The Mustangs are now looking to continue their winning tradition.  GO MUSTANGS GO.