Game of the Week: Wilson Bulldogs (4-1) vs. Gov. Mifflin Mustangs (3-2)
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Wilson (4-1) vs. Gov. Mifflin (3-2)
Kick: Friday, 7, at Mifflin Stadium.
What’s at stake? The Gurski/Linn Trophy.
Trophy Series: Bulldogs lead 9-3.
Overall series: Bulldogs lead 39-27.
Last season: Wilson won 21-14.
2023 recap: The Mustangs led 7-0 and 14-7 before the Bulldogs took the lead for good on Tommy Hunsicker’s 35-yard TD pass to Madyx Gruber on the opening series of the second half. The Mustangs controlled the ball for 33-of-41 plays in the first half but went into intermission tied 14-14. Wilson’s defense did better in the second half, stopping Mifflin on 4-of-5 third down conversions and each of its three fourth-down tries.
| 2023 | Wilson | 21-14 |
| 2022 | Wilson | 32-14 |
| 2021 | Gov. Mifflin | 42-14 |
| 2020 | Gov. Mifflin | 48-7 |
| 2019 | Wilson | 61-14 |
| 2018 | Wilson | 42-28 |
| 2017 | Gov. Mifflin | 21-14 |
| 2016 | Wilson | 38-7 |
| 2015 | Wilson | 14-3 |
| 2014 | Wilson | 35-34 OT |
| 2013 | Wilson | 38-7 |
| 2012 | Wilson | 21-14+ |
| Wilson | 21-0 | |
| 2011 | Gov. Mifflin | 34-28 OT |
Bulldogs update: Came up with tremendous goal-line stand late in first half last week in turning Cedar Crest back 14-7. . . Madyx Gruber found Cam Zullinger with a pair of first-half TD passes. . . Turned the ball over 3 times after committing just 2 turnovers in first 4 games. . . Ranked No. 1 among Section 1 teams in total offense at 369 yards per game and No. 3 overall in the league, behind only Twin Valley and Solanco. . . Gruber is completing 65.5 percent of his passes and is seventh among L-L passers with 785 yards. . . Junior RB Correll Akings leads team with 457 rushing yards and is second with 11 receptions. . . Soph TE Michael Glover leads team with 17 catches. . . Three receivers have 10 ore more catches. . . Six different receivers have caught a TD pass. . . Soph Monty Greer is averaging 34.0 yards on 6 kickoff returns and 10.3 yards per carry. . . Senior LB Christo Hunsicker leads team with 38 tackles and 3 sacks. . . Soph LB EJ Brownback has 37 tackles and leads team with 7 tackles for loss. . . Greer leads team with 5 pass breakups. . . Hunsicker is averaging 37.2 yards on punts. . . Listed among 5 Teams To Watch in PennLive.com in Class 6A state rankings.
Did you know? Ray Linn, who coached at Gov. Mifflin, and John Gurski, who coached at Wilson, went head-to-head 10 times in the series, each winning 5 times. Gurski went 11-8 vs. the Mustangs; the final game of his career, in 1982, was an 8-7 loss to Mifflin. Linn went 14-7 vs. the Bulldogs; the final game of his career, in 1988, was a 17-0 loss to Wilson.
Mustangs update: Senior FB Grady Garner scored 2 TDs and rushed for 165 yards in 41-6 Section 2 win over Muhlenberg on Sunday. . . Garner has twice scored 4 TDs in a game and leads the Lancaster-Lebanon League with 14 touchdowns, 13 on the ground. . . He is fourth in the league with 706 rushing yards; averaging 5.9 yards per carry. . . He’s second in the league with 120 carries. . . Mustangs are No. 4 in the league in rushing, averaging 331 yards per game. . .Have turned the ball over a Berks-low 3 times in 5 games. . . Overall, plus-6 in turnover differential. . . Senior S Reese Hohl shares Berks lead with 3 interceptions. . . Junior S Lebron Leaf leads team with 24 tackles. . . Senior DB Stephen Mayo has 21 tackles; Senior DE Bryce Tully 20 tackles. . . Senior DT Ismael Vargas has 19 tackles and leads team with 5 tackles for loss and 4 sacks.
Fast fact: Wilson has won 5 of the last 8 games played at Mifflin Stadium.
Quotable: “All my years of playing football, (this is like) nothing like I’ve ever experienced.” – Wilson senior lineman Logan Kurzweg after last year’s win.
About the trophy: The Gurski/Linn Trophy was added for the 2012 game. It honors two men who shaped each school’s program.
John Gurski coached the Bulldogs from 1964-82 and transformed the program from an also-ran into the most powerful in Berks history. He retired as the winningest coach in program history with 151 victories in 19 seasons.
Ray Linn took the Mustangs to great heights during his first run with the program, from 1956-73; they were a dominant force in the Tri-County League throughout the 1960s. He returned to coach from 1985-87 and retired as the winningest coach in program history with 124 victories in 21 seasons.
The trophy travels to the winning school and remains there until the next game, where it is displayed on the sideline.
It has spent considerable time in West Lawn; the Bulldogs have won 9-of-12 trophy games, including the first five (playoff meetings do not count in the trophy series).
About the series: Games have gotten out of hand several times recently. Wilson won 61-14 at Mifflin in 2019 and 38-7 in both 2016 and 2013. Mifflin won 42-14 in 2021, Nick Singleton’s senior year, and 48-7 the year before.
Two of the games have gone to overtime. Mifflin won 34-28 at home in 2011 and Wilson won 35-34 at home in 2014. In the latter game the Bulldogs trailed 28-13 with 10 minutes left before QB Jake Templin rallied them with his third and fourth TD passes. Jake Gehman caught a TD pass, then ran for the two-point conversion to tie it with 15 seconds remaining in regulation.
The teams first met in 1954, with Wilson winning the inaugural game 25-0. Mifflin won the next 12, 11 of them with Ray Linn as its coach.
