Mustangs are top dogs

by Mike Drago, Reading Eagle

Posted on September 3, 2006

Gov. Mifflin builds a two-touchdown lead, then hangs on for a stunning win over Wilson, the Mustangs' first over the Bulldogs in 10 years.

A retreat is not a surrender, even if it seems so at the time. It's a plan to regroup and return to fight another day.
That was the idea Gov. Mifflin had a few years back, when things bottomed out during a 1-9 season and the school left the Lancaster-Lebanon League for the Inter-County League.

The move was criticized by many longtime Mustangs fans, who didn't see the point. Maybe, just maybe, the picture got a little clearer Friday evening.

With the focus of this much-anticipated season opener squarely on Wilson and the problems its program has encountered in recent months, the Mustangs stole the spotlight, dominating the Bulldogs up front to pull off a stunning 14-12 upset at Gurski Stadium.

It was Mifflin's first win over Wilson in 10 years, and the first victory ever by an I-C team over the Bulldogs.

“The only ones that thought we could beat them were us, and the Wilson coaching staff,” said Mifflin coach Mick Vecchio. “In reality, it's only one game. But it's a great, great win for us.”

“This is just incredible it's like no other feeling you can have,” said Mustangs quarterback Brad Rhoads. “Beating Wilson is the greatest thing (you can do) in high school football.”

Rhoads completed just one pass but he fueled the upset with his hard runs on keepers and options, picking up 60 yards.

The Mustangs were basic, not fancy, preferring to run the ball between the tackles, eat up clock and control the flow of the game sort of what you expected the Bulldogs to do.

Wilson came in with the bigger, more experienced linemen, but it was the Mustangs who showed more fire and made fewer mistakes, helping them methodically build a 14-0 lead after three quarters.

The Bulldogs stormed back, scoring a pair of touchdowns within a 31/2 minute stretch early in the fourth quarter. But they failed on a PAT kick, and then a potential game-tying two-point conversion with 7:01 left.

The Bulldogs got the ball back twice after that but the Mustangs defense led by linebacker Joe Favinger stoned them. Ryan Bricker picked off a pass with 2:56 to go when Eric Wimer was forced to throw under pressure. Then, after Wilson got the ball back just 30 seconds later, the Mustangs stopped them again, getting a sack from Corey Chwiecko on first down, then incompletions on second and fourth downs.

The Bulldogs had all sorts of problems, especially on offense. They constantly shot themselves in the foot with penalties, and Wimer had trouble making things click with the passing game, completing just 4 of his first 11 attempts.

Wimer, who missed a week of practice due to mono, was relieved by sophomore Steve Huber on the second series of the third quarter, but the move turned into a disaster when there was a mix-up on a handoff that turned into a fumble and gave the Mustangs possession at the Wilson 15.

Two plays later, Dustin Manz scored from the 12 and the Mustangs found themselves up 14-0.

“Give them credit,” Wilson coach Doug Dahms said of the Mustangs. “They played a nice game. They moved some people around, they showed us some things they hadn't shown before. We just didn't do a good job picking it up.”

Contact Mike Drago at 610-371-5067 or mdrago@readingeagle.com.

[ return to previous page ]