SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2014-7

By Bill Engelhardt

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Last Friday evening, October 9, the Mustangs of South Western visited the den of the Lions of Red Lion and galloped their way to a convincing 31-14 victory.  Eight different players contributed towards an impressive total of 385-yards rushing, with four of them scoring a touchdown.

The Lions opened the game with a four play 18-yard drive and punted.  The Mustangs returned the favor with a four play 24-yard drive and punted.  The Lions then drove from the Mustangs 47-yard line to the 21 but a penalty put them back to the 31.  Noah Staub then intercepted a Lions pass and returned it 20-yards to the Mustangs 30-yard line.

The Mustangs drove 55-yards in eight plays, featuring a 12-yard pass from Brock Geiman to Jeff Green and a 21-yard run by Mike Johnson.  Cole Snyder ended that drive by recovering a Mustangs fumble and the Lions took over on their own 6-yard line.  Dylan Gurreri ran for 2-yards and then Alex Keough ripped off a 92-yard touchdown jaunt.  Sam Emig’s extra point kick put the Lions up 7-0 with 19 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Mustangs then drove 73-yards in ten plays, featuring a 36-yard pass from Geiman to Matt Smolko.  Robby Harbison’s 10-yard touchdown run and Wes Sneeringer’s extra point kick resulted in a 7-7 the at the 7:38 point of the second quarter.

The Lions then drove 60-yards in ten plays, only to have Noah Staub recover a fumble for the Mustangs.  The Mustangs drove from their own 8-yard line to the Lions 7-yard line in ten plays, featuring a 32-yard run by Geiman and a 24-yard run by Johnson.  The always-reliable Wes Sneeringer kicked a 19-yard field goal, putting the Mustangs up 10-7 with one second left in the half.

The Mustangs opened the second half with an 80-yard drive in ten plays, featuring a 12-yard pass from Geiman to Staub, an 11-yard run by Miles Francis, and an 11-yard run by Geiman.  Nigel Williams ended the drive with a 17-yard touchdown jaunt and Sneeringer’s extra point kick increased the Mustangs lead to 17-7 with 7:10 left in the third quarter.

The Lions and the Mustangs exchanged punts and the Lions drove 30-yards in four plays, featuring a 23-yard Pass from Sam Emig to Kendrick Boyd-Gillespie, only to have Miles Francis snag the first of his two interceptions and return it 39-yards for the Mustangs.  After a 39-yard run by Johnson, Geiman’s 1-yard touchdown run and Sneeringer’s extra point kick put the Mustangs up 24-7 with 9:31 left in the game.

The Lions scored 15 seconds later with a 61-yard touchdown pass from Emig to James Jackson.  Emig’s extra point kick made the score 24-14 with 9:16 left in the game.

The Mustangs ended up punting but three plays later Francis gathered in his second interception for the Mustangs.  The Mustangs then drove 59-yards in six plays, featuring a 38-yard run by Jeff Green.  Zack Hughes’ 2-yard touchdown run and Sneeringer’s extra point kick made the final score 31-14 in favor of the Mustangs with 4:27 left in the game. 

Wes Sneeringer kicked off 6 times for 229-yards, for an average of 38.2-yards, with the longest going for 54-yards, and Brock Geiman punted 3 times for 117-yards, for an average of 39-yards, with the longest going for 45-yards.  Miles Francis returned 2 kickoffs for 33-yards, with the longest going for 17-yards, and 1 punt for 7-yards, for the Mustangs.

Mike Farace, with 10 tackles and 1 pass hurry, led the Mustang defense, followed by Tyler Fulmore with 10 tackles, Corbin Byers with 7 tackles and 5 pass hurries, Noah Staub with 5 tackles, 1 interception returned for 20-yards, 1 recovered fumble, and 1 pass defended, Nate VanCampen with 5 tackles and 1 pass defended, Skylar Bowman with 4 tackles and 1 pass defended, Carson Perry with 4 tackles and 1 caused fumble, Zack Hughes and Mike Johnson with 3 tackles each, Miles Francis with 2 tackles, 2 interceptions (one of which was returned for 39-yards), and 1 pass defended, Bubba Carbaugh with 2 tackles, 1 sack for a 4-yard loss, and 1 pass hurry, Matt Smolko, Cole Stremmel, Logan Toms, and Josh Zeroth with 2 tackles each, Kaidon Gaylord, Josh Higdon, Quan Marshall with 1 tackle each, and Chris Steckel with 1 pass hurry.

Skylar Bowman, Corbin Byers, Bubba Carbaugh, Scotty Dickmyer, Mike Farace, Tyler Fulmore, Zach Hughes, Quan Marshall, Carson Perry, Austin Reusing, Matt Smolko, Chris Steckel, Logan Toms, and Josh Zeroth manned the offensive and defensive line and linebacker positions.

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

The Mustangs gained 385-yards rushing and 74-yards passing for a total of 459-yards of offense. Senior quarterback Brock Geiman completed 7 of 14 passes for the 74-yards, 1 for 36-yards to Matt Smolko, 2 for 22-yards to Noah Staub, 2 for 16-yards to Jeff Green, and 1 for no yards to Miles Francis for the Mustangs.  Mike Johnson led the Mustangs rushing attack with 8 carries for 103-yards, followed by Robby Harbison with 8 for 62-yards (including a 10-yard touchdown), Geiman with 6 for 52-yards (including a 1-yard touchdown), Tyler Fulmore with 10 for 58-yards, Green with 2 for 41-yards, Miles Francis with 7 for 33-yards, Zack Hughes with 7 for 20-yards (including a 2-yard touchdown), Nigel Williams with 3 for 19-yards (including a 17-yard touchdown), and a team loss of 3-yards.  Wes Sneeringer kicked a 19-yard field goal and 4 extra points for the Mustangs. 

The Lions gained 177-yards rushing and 166-yards passing for a total of 343 yards gained.  Sam Emig completed 12 of 20 passes for the 166-yards and 1 touchdown, 5 for 92-yards to James Jackson (including a 61-yard touchdown), 3 for 45-yards to Kendrick Boyd-Gillespie, 1 for 20-yards to Dillon Hildebrand, 2 for 8-yards to Alex Keough, and 1 for 1-yard to Cole Snyder, for the Lions.  Keough led the Lions rushing attack with 7 carries for 113-yards (including a 92-yard touchdown), followed by Dylan Gurreri with 12 for 46-yards, Emig with 6 for 15-yards, and Patrick Daugherty with 1 carry for 3-yards.  Emig kicked 2 extra points and Cole Snyder recovered a fumble for the Lions.

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.

In a post game performance, the 118 member Lions Marching Band put on their field show “”Uprising.”  The show featured the music of Led Miserables and Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.

The 21 member strong Mustangs Cheer Leading squad and the Lions squad were very impressive as they roused the faithful.

The Mustangs of South Western are 5-1-0 overall and 3-0-0 in York Adams Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

The Mustangs have a career record of 351-215-8.  The results of the 574 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .620 winning percentage and a .625 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs will host the Wildcats of Dallastown (6-0 overall, 3-0 league) at the Mustang Corral.  Dallastown is coming off of a 15-12 victory over the Bobcats of Northeastern.  The Mustangs are looking to remain on the winning track.  GO MUSTANGS GO.