GoBigRecruiting.com Game of the Week: Wilson vs. Gov. Mifflin
Wilson (4-1) vs. Gov. Mifflin (2-3)
Kick: Saturday, 1, at Mifflin Stadium.
Series: Bulldogs lead 37-27.
Last meeting: Gov. Mifflin took advantage of short fields and reached the end zone on each of its first four possessions en route to a 42-14 win before more than 5,000 people at Mifflin Stadium. The Mustangs hammered the Bulldogs relentlessly on defense in the first half and came away a second straight mercy-rule win — something the Mustangs had never done before. They led 35-0 five minutes into the third quarter.
The Bulldogs loaded up to stop Nick Singleton and did a relatively good job wrapping him up and preventing breakaway runs. Still, the Penn State-bound senior found his way to the end zone three times, his 80th touchdown, a 32-yard run early in the fourth quarter, giving him the Berks career record.
He ran for 137 yards on just 15 carries to push his career yardage total to 4,691, just 87 shy of the Berks record (at the time).
Bulldogs update: Have won four straight and cruised to a pair of one-sided games in Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 1 play, the latest 36-13 over Cedar Crest. . . Tommy Hunsicker completed 8-of-12 passes for 127 yards and Cam Jones scored three touchdowns, one on a 48-yard reception, against the Falcons. . . Hunsicker has thrown just one interception during the four-game winning streak after throwing three in his first start, a 46-15 loss to Roman Catholic. . . Jones, who has taken over at tailback after beginning the season at wide receiver, is averaging 8.4 yards per carry, tops among Section 1 rushers. . . His 10 rushing TDs are also tops in Section 1. . . He has 14 TDs overall, including three on punt returns. . . Ranked No. 2 in Section 1 and fifth overall in the league in total defense, allowing 212 yards per game. . LB Ryan McMillan leads team with 25 tackles; LB Nick Crocona has 22. . . Crocona has 5 tackles for loss. . . S Nate Capitano has 3 INTs. . . CB Rafael Fernandez has 3 pass break-ups. . . McMillan has forced 2 fumbles. . . Ranked No. 5 in District 3 Class 6A power ratings.
Fast fact: Nick Singleton gained just a small portion of his 6,326 career rushing yards and 114 career touchdowns against Wilson. In four head-to-head meetings with the Bulldogs the all-time Berks rushing and scoring leader rushed for 492 yards and scored seven TDs. All of those scores came in the last two meetings, each of which Mifflin won; he didn’t reach the end zone in the first two meetings, which Wilson won. Against Wilson, he rushed for 97 yards as a freshman, 35 as a sophomore, 160 as a junior and 137 as a senior.
Mustangs update: QB Delsin McNeil ran for 3 TDs and passed for a fourth last week in 42-8 Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 2 win over Muhlenberg. . . Brandon Jones rushed for 73 yards and Brayden Reis for 68. . . Reis leads team with 361 yards; he’s averaging 7.8 yards per carry. . . Jones is averaging 5.3 yards per carry. . . McNeil has run for team-leading 7 TDs. . . McNeil has completed 27-of-47 passes for 386 yards and 2 TDs. . . Ranked fifth among seven teams in Section 2 in total offense. . . Jones leads the team with 49 tackles. . . T Mykel Ford is second with 46 tackles, and leads team with 7 tackles for loss.
Did you know? Gov. Mifflin hasn’t beaten Wilson in three straight seasons in over half a century. You’d have to go back to the 1960’s, when the Mustangs won 12 straight games in the series. Mifflin last won three in a row over Wilson in 2006-07, beating the Bulldogs in both the regular season and in the playoffs in 2006.
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 seven of the 10 trophy games, including the first five (playoff meetings do not count in the trophy series).
About the series: Games have gotten out of hand the last several seasons, and several times recently. Wilson won 61-14 at Mifflin in 2019 and 38-7 in both 2016 and 2013. Mifflin won 42-14 last 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 four TD passes. Jake Gehman caught a TD pass, then ran for the two-point conversion to tie it with 15 seconds remaining in regulation. Jan Johnson ran for two TDs and threw two TDs in that one.
Did you know? From 2006 to 2016 Wilson and Mifflin opened the season against each other. In recent years, after the PIAA added the “Zero Week” option, they met in Week 2.
They’re meeting in Week 6 this year as a non-league game. Wilson, which plays in Section 1, and Mifflin, which plays in Section 2, each have a scheduled bye this week. Sections 1, 2 and 3of the Lancaster-Lebanon League each have seven teams, meaning one team in each section will have a bye week.
Fast fact: Wilson beat Gov. Mifflin twice during Nick Singleton’s four seasons. Only one team beat the Mustangs three times during the Singleton era: Cocalico. The Eagles beat Mifflin during the 2018 and 2019 regular seasons and again in the 2019 district playoffs.
