GoBigRecruiting.com Game of the Week for Week 4: Exeter vs. Mifflin

By Mike Drago Last updated Sep 14, 2022

Gov. Mifflin's Nick Singleton congratulates Exeter's Colin Payne after last year's district championship game. (Tim Macrina photo)

Exeter (3-0) vs. Gov. Mifflin (1-2)

Kick: Friday, 7, at Mifflin Stadium.

League records: Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 2 opener for both.

Series: Mifflin leads 21-6, including 16-2 in league play.

Last meeting: Seven weeks after losing at home 54-21 to Mifflin, Exeter played a near-perfect game and took out the top-seeded and unbeaten Mustangs 31-28 in the 2021 District 3 Class 5A championship game at Mifflin Stadium.

Exeter took the lead for good when Eric Nangle broke out of a pileup at the line on fourth-and-1 and went 31 yards for a TD with 9:15 remaining, making it 31-28. Nangle finished with 221 yards on 40 carries. The Eagles finished with 397 yards and 21 first downs and ran 68 plays.

Eric Nangle ran for 221 yards against Mifflin. (Tom Nettleton photo)

Gov. Mifflin’s Nick Singleton was held to 40 yards on just eight carries, the first time all season the Berks Player of the Year and national Player of the Year was held under 100 yards. He had just one carry in the second half.

The Mustangs took their only lead at 28-21 on Eden Johnson’s 28-yard run midway through the second half.

Eagles update: Own a pair of 35-0 wins, over Daniel Boone and West York, and led Boyertown 37-0 in its other win. . . First-string defense, led by LB Lucas Palange (22 tackles), T Anthony Caccese (7 tackles for loss), LB Jon Martin (17 tackles, 2 sacks, 4 hurries) and LB Jovan Hollis (2 INTs, 1 blocked punt) has not allowed a point. . . Defense has recorded 29 tackles for loss and 10 sacks. . . Ranked No. 2 in the league in total defense, allowing 176 yards per game, according to figures on lancasteronline.com. Wyomissing is No. 1, allowing 133. . . Penn State TE recruit Joey Schlaffer leads team with 10 receptions for 222 yards and 4 TDs. . . First-year starting QB Mason Rotelli is completing 71.1 percent of his passes, for 471 yards and 7 TDs with 1 INT. . . RB Richie Karstien is averaging 7.0 yards per carry and had four TDs. . . Head coach Matt Bauer, in 14th season, needs four wins to become just second in program history to reach 100. Don Thomas, who coached 24 seasons, is the leader with 123. . . Bauer’s .649 winning percentage is highest in program history and 12th-best in Berks history. . . Ranked No. 4 in the state in Class 5A by PennLive.com.

Fast fact: Exeter’s Joey Schlaffer needs two receptions to tie Alex Javier’s career program record of 95, established in 2019. He needs 112 yards to match Javier’s mark for caree receiving yards (1,950). With 24 TD receptions he has topped Javier’s program record of 21.

Did you know? This is the first time Gov. Mifflin has had a losing record when it faced Exeter since 2004, when the Mustangs were 0-3. They came away with a 7-3 Week 4 win, dropping the Eagles to 2-2. Mifflin went on to share the Berks Section 1 title.

Mustangs update: Snapped three-game losing streak with 17-14 win over Boyertown last week as Jackson Schools kicked a 33-yard FG with 29 seconds left. . . Trailed 7-0 at the half. . . Brayden Reis rushed for 90 yards on nine carries, including a 50-yard TD run. . . He is averaging 8.7 yards per carry. . . QB Delsin McNeil has completed 20-of-32 passes for 220 yards and 1 TD, and has run for 3 TDs. . . Turned the ball over five times in Week 2 loss to Carlisle; did not have any turnovers last week. . . Picked to finish third in Section 2 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League after graduating nine all-league players from a 10-1 team, including two-way all-league picks Nick Singleton (RB/KR), Eden Johnson (QB/S) and Trey Rock (FB/LB).

Fast fact: Afer joining the Berks Football League in 2004 Gov. Mifflin went 16-3 vs. Exeter, with 12 section titles.

Series flashback 2015: Michal Menet blocks a punt to change the momentum and help Exeter rally from a 14-point first-quarter deficit to win 35-21, snapping a nine-game losing streak against Mifflin and clinching at least a share of the Berks Section 1 title The Eagles went ahead for good early in the third quarter on Gabe Schappell’s 10-yard pass to Matt Feeney. Nick Sarangoulis ran for 103 yards for Exeter, which was out-gained by Mifflin 315-238, in large part because of Lucas Garner’s 190 rushing yards. The Mustangs were undone by three lost fumbles. The Eagles beat Conrad Weiser the following week to secure the Section 1 title.

Series flashback 2014: Jan Johnson ran for three first-half touchdowns as the Mustangs built a 28-6 lead en route to a 31-28 victory. Johnson finished with 168 rushing yards, 97 passing yards, kicked a career-best 40-yard field goal and blocked a PAT. The Eagles mounted a fierce comeback, scoring three fourth-quarter TDs, the last a 2-yard TD run by Chase Yocum that cut the lead to three with 8:08 left. They never got the ball back as the Mustangs ran out the clock.