Patient Bulldogs tighten up ‘D’ in second half, hold off Mustangs in trophy game
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
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By Mike Drago — MikeDragoSports.com Managing Editor
Ryan McMillan played a lot more defense than offense Friday night in Wilson’s annual trophy battle with rival Gov. Mifflin.
The senior linebacker/guard didn’t seem to mind, even as the Mustangs were hogging the ball and driving the field in the first half.
The Mustangs ran off 33 first-half plays to eight by the Bulldogs; they had a 20-minute to four-minute advantage in time of possession. But they didn’t have the lead.
That gave McMillan and the Bulldogs confidence the Gurski-Linn Trophy would stay in West Lawn for another year.
“We thought we were fine in the first half,” McMillan said after Wilson held on for a hard-fought and closer-than-many-thought 21-14 victory at Gurski Stadium. “They caught some big plays on us (in the first half); we just let down our guard for a second.
“We knew if we kept doing what we were doing everything was gonna be alright. We knew we were winning the battle up front.”
The Mustangs (3-3) used a fake punt and a wobbly pass to put up a couple of first-half touchdowns and go into intermission tied 14-14. They couldn’t sustain that momentum and were stopped three times on fourth-down tries in the second half, each in Wilson territory.
The Mustangs clung to the favored Bulldogs (4-2) and came up with their own second-half stops, one with an interception, one with a fumble recovery. They almost got a third second-half turnover when Wilson quarterback Tommy Hunsicker lost the ball after a 10-yard run into Mifflin territory, his team up just one score with seven minutes left.
Center Logan Kurzweg was right behind him and fell on the ball to allow the Bulldogs to maintain possession.
“Luckily,” he said with a relieved smile.
Mifflin had its chances, driving from its own 21 into Wilson territory with under two minutes left. Quarterback Javien Pletz, who came up big in both the running and passing game, threw a nice sideline ball to Reece Hohl inside the Wilson 30. Hohl, who intercepted a pair of Hunsicker throws earlier in the game, couldn’t hold on. One play later the Mustangs were stopped on downs for the final time.
“We had our opportunities in the second half,” lamented Mifflin coach Jeff Lang. “We just couldn’t finish it.”
Wilson’s second straight win in the heated series, and ninth in 12 years since the inception of the trophy honoring the two former head coaches, wasn’t a decisive knockout punch but it was a win – their fourth straight.
“The Wilson-Mifflin game . . . it feels great to win, no matter what the score is,” said McMillan, who recorded a game-high 12 tackles.
The Mustangs led 7-0 and 14-7 before the Bulldogs took the lead for good on Hunsicker’s 35-yard TD pass to Madyx Gruber on the opening series of the second half.
The Mustangs used a fake punt to keep their opening drive alive, and Brandon Jones cashed in with a 3-yard run for a 7-0 lead, the 12th play of the drive. Punter Travis Jenkins’ 33-yard completion to Lebron Leaf was the key play.
Wilson needed just two snaps to tie it, Hunsicker connecting with Jackson Wagner on a 46-yard score.
Mifflin used a 15-play, 79-yard, nearly 10-minute drive to regain the lead. The Mustangs converted three third downs to keep the drive alive, then capped it with a 4-yard pass from Pletz to tight end Derek Dinatale.
The key play on the drive was a 29-yard completion to Hohl, to the 2. Gruber, a junior cornerback, came up on the play and went for the interception but the ball sailed over his head.
“If it was a normally thrown ball Gruber would’ve had the pick,” said Wilson coach Doug Dahms, “but the ball went ‘flutter, flutter, flutter’; he went and undercut it and it wasn’t there.”
Wilson needed just four plays to tie it, with Hunsicker’s scramble out of the pocket resulting in a 35-yard run that tied it 14-14 with 1:20 left in the half.
Despite having the ball so little in the first half the Bulldogs still felt in control.
“We thought we played solid up front in the first half,” said Dahms, “so we said, ‘We’re not gonna change anything.’ We’re just gonna keep playing smashmouth football and beat ’em at their game.
“We got them in a situation where we should’ve stopped ’em a couple times, but overall I thought the kids played tough.”
The Wilson defense was much better getting off the field in the second half. It stopped Mifflin on 4-of-5 third down conversions and each of its three fourth-down tries.
“What we were concerned about was the run game,” said Kurzweg, a defensive tackle, “and they definitely were not beating us with the run game.”
Hunsicker again was a difference-maker, throwing for 133 yards on just 11 pass attempts. He rushed for 105 yards (and lost 15 yards on a pair of sacks). He was also intercepted twice, equaling his total through the first five games.
“You can’t turn the ball over three times and (expect to) beat a really good team,” Dahms said. “Mifflin’s a good football team. You’re not gonna winning a championship turning the ball over like that. We’ve gotta clean that up, for sure.”
The Bulldogs will worry about that when they begin to prep for their Week 7 match-up at Hempfield. Friday night was all about celebrating a win in the game they wait all year to play.
The seniors remember what it was like losing to Mifflin in back-to-back years, when Nick Singleton was on the field.
“All my years of playing football,” said Kurzweg of the emotional win, “(this is like) nothing like I’ve ever experienced.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Gov. Mifflin | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Wilson | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Gov. Mifflin | Jones, 2 run (Koenig kick) | 5:33 |
| 1 | Wilson | Wagner 46 pass from T. Hunsicker (Rada kick) | 4:36 |
| 2 | Gov. Mifflin | Dinatale, 4 pass from Pletz (Koenigh kick) | 2:56 |
| 2 | Wilson | T. Hunsicker, 35 run (Rada kick) | 1:20 |
| 3 | Wilson | Gruber, 35 pass from T. Hunsicker (Rada kick) | 8:19 |
Team statistics
| Gov. Mifflin | Wilson | |
| First downs | 11 | 12 |
| Rushes-yards | 44-165 | 26-162 |
| Passing yards | 81 | 133 |
| Total yards | 246 | 295 |
| Passes | 5-10-0 | 6-11-2 |
| Fumbles-lost | 0-0 | 2-1 |
| Punts-average | 2-28.0 | 0-0 |
| Penalties-yards | 7-55 | 6-42 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Gov. Mifflin: Pletz 8-54, Garner 6-32, Hohl 11-31, Jones 10-29, Huber 3-12, Acevedo 1-4, Jenkins 5-3.
Wilson: T. Hunsicker 13-90, Aikings 7-46, Fiorini 5-27, Team 1-(-1).
PASSING
Gov. Mifflin: Pletz 4-9-0–48, Jenkins 1-1-0–33.
Wilson: T. Hunsicker 6-11-2–133.
RECEIVING
Gov. Mifflin: Hohl 2-44, Leaf 1-33, Dinatale 1-4, Jones 1-0.
Wilson: Wagner 2-53, Valukevich 2-34, Gruber 1-35, Case 1-11.
INTERCEPTIONS
Gov. Mifflin: Hohl 2.
