SOUTH WESTERN MUSTANGS GRIDIRON 2015-8

By Bill Engelhardt

     ________

Last Friday evening, October 16, the Mustangs of South Western hosted the Wildcats of Dallastown at the Mustang Corral and were edged 29-21 in a thriller that wasn’t decided until Jake Jansen intercepted a Mustang pass in the end zone as time ran out in the game.  That was Jansen’s second interception of the game.

The Mustangs opened the game with a six-play seventeen-yard drive but ended up punting.  The Wildcats went three and out and punted, but got the ball right back when William Reilly recovered a Mustangs fumble at the Mustangs 8-yard line.  Two plays later Zion DeVance scored a touchdown on a 1-yard plunge.  Drake Pew’s extra point kick put the Wildcats up 7-0 at the 7:08 mark of the first quarter.

The Mustangs then had a five-play drive; featuring a 13-yard pass from Brock Geiman to Zack Hughes, end with a punt.  After a 31-yard return by Jake Jansen, the Wildcats took over on the Mustangs 37-yard line.  Six plays later, featuring a 12-yard run by Dillon Callahan, quarterback Cade Gold scored a touchdown on a 2-yard plunge.  Pew’s extra point kick put the Wildcats up 14-0 with 1:46 to go in the first quarter.

The Mustangs struck back immediately when Jeff Green scored a touchdown on a 68-yard scamper.  The extra point attempt was missed and the Wildcats still led 14-6 with 1:27 left in the quarter.

The Wildcats had the ball at the Mustangs 28-yard line after a 55-yard kickoff return by Jansen.  A penalty thwarted that drive and the Wildcats punted from the 37-yard line.  The Mustangs went three and out and punted.  After a 17-yard punt return by Jansen, the Wildcats then drove 39-yards in nine plays, ending with Jake Garrity’s 2-yard touchdown run.  Pew’s extra point kick put the Wildcats up 21-6 with 5:45 left in the second quarter.

The Mustangs and the Wildcats exchanged punts and the first half ended.

The Wildcats had a nice drive, featuring a 23-yard pass from Gold to Jansen, thwarted by a penalty and punted.  The Mustangs drove 58-yards in nine plays, featuring an 18-yard run by Mike Johnson, only to turn the ball over on downs at the Wildcats 32-yard line.  The Wildcats then had a 25-yard drive thwarted by four penalties and punted.

The Mustangs then drove 93-yards in twelve plays, featuring a 16-yard pass from Geiman to Green, and ending with Geiman’s beautiful 44-yard touchdown toss to Green.  Wes Sneeringer’s extra point kick made the score 21-13 in favor of the Wildcats at the 8:44 mark of the fourth quarter.

The Wildcats struck back quickly with a two play, 60-yard, drive that ended with Gold’s 54-yard touchdown scamper.  Brett Smith threw a 2-point conversion pass to Jawaun McMillian and the Wildcats were up 29-13 with 7:37 left in the game.

The Wildcats got the ball back immediately when Jansen got the first of his two interceptions at the Mustangs 39-yard line.  The Wildcats turned the ball over on downs at the Mustangs 34-yard line.

The Mustangs then drove 66-yards in eight plays, featuring passes of 28 and 12-yards from Geiman to Noah Staub.  The drive ended with Geiman’s picture perfect 20-yard touchdown pass to Staub.  Geiman threw a 2-point conversion pass to Green to close out the scoring at 29-21 in favor of the Wildcats, with 3:41 left in the game.

The never say die Mustangs got the ball back after a Wildcats punt and drove from their own 15-yard line to the Wildcats 17-yard line in six plays, featuring a hook and ladder play involving Geiman’s pass to Staub and Staub’s lateral to Green that went for 48-yards.  Jansen’s second interception of the game, in the end zone as time ran out, sealed the victory for the Wildcats.

Wes Sneeringer kicked off 3 times for 140-yards, for an average of 46.7-yards, with the longest going for 50-yards, and Brock Geiman punted 4 times for 118-yards, for an average of 29.5-yards, with the longest going for 37-yards.  Miles Francis returned 4 kickoffs for 85-yards, with the longest going for 28-yards, and 1 punt for 8-yards, for the Mustangs.

Nate VanCampen, with 12 tackles and 1 pass defended, led the Mustang defense, followed by Tyler Fulmore with 10 tackles, Corbin Byers with 7 tackles and 1 pass hurry, Evan Raubenstine with 7 tackles and a caused fumble, Skylar Bowman, Zack Hughes, and Josh Zeroth with 7 tackles each, Bubba Carbaugh and Mike Farace with 5 tackles each, Carson Perry and Chris Steckel with 2 tackles each, and Miles Francis, Jeff Green, Mike Johnson, Quan Marshall, Austin Reusing, Matt Smolko, Logan Toms, and Nigel Williams with 1 tackle each.

Skylar Bowman, Corbin Byers, Bubba Carbaugh, Scotty Dickmyer, Mike Farace, Tyler Fulmore, Zach Hughes, Quan Marshall, Carson Perry, Evan Raubenstine, 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 174yards rushing and 238-yards passing for a total of 412-yards of offense. Senior quarterback Brock Geiman completed 15 of 33 passes for the 238-yards and 2 touchdowns, 5 for 117-yards to Jeff Green (including a 44-yard touchdown), 9 for 108-yards to Noah Staub (including a 20-yard touchdown), and 1 for 13-yards to Zack Hughes, for the Mustangs.  Green led the Mustangs rushing attack with 1 carry for 68-yards and a touchdown, followed by Mike Johnson with 8 carries for 45-yards, Geiman with 7 for 33-yards, Miles Francis with 3 for 13-yards, Robby Harbison with 1 for 4-yards, Tyler Fulmore with 2 carries for 2-yards, and a team loss of 1-yard.  Geiman threw a 2-point conversion pass to Green, Wes Sneeringer kicked 1 extra point, Evan Raubenstine caused a fumble, Nate Van Campen defended a pass, and Corbin Byers recorded a pass hurry, for the Mustangs.

The Wildcats gained 241-yards rushing and 45 yards passing for a total of 286 yards gained.  Quarterback Cade Gold completed 4 of 8 passes for the 45-yards, 2 for 32-yards to Jake Jansen, 1 for 11-yards to Anthony Garcia, and 1 for 2-yards to Connor Moore, for the Wildcats.  Gold led the Wildcats rushing attack with 20 carries for 133-yards (including touchdowns of 2 and 54-yards), followed by Zion DeVance with 14 for 46-yards, Dillon Callahan with 7 for 44-yards, Jake Garrity with 6 for 17-yards (including a 2-yard touchdown), Jack Marks with 1 carry for 1-yard and Jansen with 1 carry for no yards.  Drake Pew kicked 3 extra points, Brett Smith threw a 2-point conversion pass to Jawaun McMillian, Jansen intercepted 2 passes (including one in the end zone as time ran out in the game), and William Reilly recovered a fumble, for the Wildcats.

Band Night at the Mustang Corral began with a stirring performance by the Emory H Markle Middle School Band, which was joined by the South Western Mustangs Marching Band for a rousing conclusion of their show.  The 10-time Cavalcade of Bands, 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 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 122-member Dallastown Wildcats Marching Band gave a crowd-pleasing half time performance of its show “Shaken, Not Stirred,” featuring the music of James Bond, including the tunes “You Know My Name, You Know My Number” “Skyfall,” “Die Another Day,” “Live and Let Die,” “The Spy Who Loved Me,” and “James Bond Theme Song.”

The 24 member strong Mustangs Cheer Leading squad and the Wildcats’ squad were very impressive as they roused the faithful.

The Mustangs of South Western are 5-2-0 overall and 3-1-0 in York Adams Interscholastic Athletic Association (YAIAA) Division I league play.

The Mustangs have a career record of 351-216-8.  The results of the 575 games played in the history of the South Western Mustangs are a career .619 winning percentage and a .624 non-losing percentage.

Next week the Mustangs visit the den of the Bearcats of William Penn (0-7 overall, 0-4 league).  William Penn is coming off of a 35-8 loss to the Bobcats of Northeastern.  The Mustangs are looking to get back on the winning track.  GO MUSTANGS GO.