Warwick tops Gov. Mifflin, stays alive for playoff berth

By mikedragosports Last updated Oct 29, 2022

(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)

By Bruce Morgan — LNP/Lancasteronline

LITITZ — Warwick had one objective Friday night.

Win and hope for the best.

Three spots out of a District 3 Class 5A playoff berth, the Warriors took care of their business by earning a third straight victory, beating Gov. Mifflin 25-7 in a Lancaster-Lebanon Section 2 game on Senior Night.

The Mustangs ended their first season in the league at 2-4; they’re 3-7 overall after going 10-0 a year ago.

“Gov. Mifflin’s a good football team,” Warrior coach Bob Locker said. “Their record doesn’t reflect their talent level and all the things they have. And I thought tonight was a demonstration of what it looks like when our kids play a complete football game.”

Time will tell whether it gets them into the district field but if this was indeed the final high school game for the seniors, they wrote a positive conclusion to their careers.

“It meant everything to the seniors because we don’t know how much we had left, but it’s just nice to end on a win,” said Warriors (4-2, 5-5) senior quarterback Jack Reed, who surpassed the 2,000-yard milestone for the season by finishing 17-of-21 through the air for 248 yards and two touchdowns.

In a rematch of last year’s District 3 5A playoff quarterfinals, when Mifflin topped Warwick 63-35 on its way to the championship game, the Warriors used a balanced attack and a second-half defensive shutout to put away the Mustangs.

Junior Andrew McClune added two rushing TDs while combining with Reed and senior Colin Winters to gain 117 total yards on 27 carries.

Ball control was the name of the game in the first half, with each team getting just two possessions in the opening 24 minutes. The Warriors scored on both of theirs, as Reed’s 17-yard TD pass to senior Brendon Snyder capped an 18-play, 89-yard drive and then McClune plowed in from a yard out, giving Warwick a 13-7 lead at the half.

In between, Mifflin’s Travis Jenkins took a toss left and scored on a 5-yard run to finish off a 14-play, 73-yard yard series.

But that was all the Mustangs could muster on the scoreboard. Although they ran for 225 yards, led by Brandon Jones (11-97), Warwick’s defense stepped up with key stops and junior linebacker Jack Koons recorded two sacks.

In the end, McClune’s 5-yard TD run late in the third and Reed’s second TD strike to Snyder (8-150 receiving) in the fourth put the game out of reach.

	1	2	3	4	Final
Gov. Mifflin	0	7	0	0	7
Warwick	6	7	6	6	25

Scoring summary

1	Warwick	Snyder, 17 pass from Reed (kick failed)
2	Gov. Mifflin	Jenkins, 5 run (Schools kick)
2	Warwick	McClune, 1 run (Jerchau kick)
3	Warwick	McClune, 5 run (pass failed)
4	Warwick	Snyder, 63 pass from Reed (run failed)

Team statistics

	Gov. Mifflin	Warwick
First downs	16	20
Rushes-yards	49-225	27-117
Passing yards	30	248
Total yards	255	365
Passes	3-13-0	17-21-0
Fumbles-lost	3-0	0-0
Punts-average	1-44.0	0-0
Penalties-yards	6-37	2-15

Individual statistics

RUSHING

Gov. Mifflin: Jones 16-97, D. McNeil 19-78, Jenkins 14-50.

Warwick: Reed 11-44, Winters 8-44, McClune 8-29.

PASSING

Gov. Mifflin: D. McNeil 3-13-0–30.

Warwick: Reed 17-21-0–248.

RECEIVING

Gov. Mifflin: Morris 2-23, Rapp 1-7.

Warwick: 8-150, Christophel 4-34, Evans 3-13, McClune 1-40, Jeanes 1-11.