Mason Young passes another test as Bulldogs retain Gurski-Linn Trophy
2025 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com senior correspondent
For the second year in a row, a Wilson quarterback was the deciding factor in why the Gurski-Linn Trophy remains in West Lawn.
Madyx Gruber’s offensive explosion a year ago lifted the Bulldogs over rival Gov. Mifflin. Friday night, it was Mason Young’s turn.
| Final | |
| Wilson | 42 |
| Mifflin | 10 |
“It’s obviously a rivalry game, but you don’t want to go in thinking about that,” said the cool, collected Young. “It’s just another game. You go in confident and use your film (study) to the best of your ability.”
The senior gunslinger, who learned behind Gruber last season and stepped into a starting role for the first time this season, threw for 234 yards and four touchdowns to lead Wilson to a 42-10 non-league victory over Gov. Mifflin Friday night at Gurski Stadium.
“Week by week, it’s gotten easier,” Young said about stepping into the high-pressure starting role. “Having Chad Henne as my quarterback coach, he makes things really easy. And I’ve got teammates to pick me up. I really just have a good team around me.”
The win keeps the Gurski-Linn Trophy in West Lawn as the Bulldogs improved their record to 11-3 in trophy games and 41-27 in the overall series against their backyard rivals.
It’s the fourth year in a row the trophy will remain with Wilson; the Mustangs last won in 2021 behind Nick Singleton.
“It feels great,” Young said. “Seeing the seniors hold (the trophy) up when I was younger . . . now it’s finally our turn.”
Young went 5-for-5 in the first half with 217 yards and three touchdowns as the Bulldogs (5-1) built a 28-3 lead.
“It starts with the O-line, it starts up front,” Young said of his hot start. “Our special teams actually made a really good play to start, our defense played great, and then our receivers just knew what to do. We just executed really well.”
Wilson placed the opening kickoff in an awkward spot between two Mustangs, who fumbled the opening kickoff and the Bulldogs recovered. Young hit Jaiden Carpenter — who leads the Lancaster-Lebanon League with seven TD catches — for a 31-yard screen pass touchdown on the first play from scrimmage.
The Mustangs (2-4) responded with a 14-play, 70-yard drive that chewed up nearly seven minutes but settled for a 24-yard field goal by Lance Koenig with 4:42 left in the first quarter.
Young spread the ball around to his stable of playmakers and reaped the benefits.
He found Damian Greer on a seam route for a 64-yard touchdown catch on the first play of the second quarter. After the Bulldogs forced a turnover on downs, Young placed a perfect throw over the shoulder of junior Michael Glover — who had Temple coaches in the stands getting an eye on him — for a 74-yarder with 5:26 left in the second quarter.
“He’s a huge body,” Young said of Glover, the 6-3, 220-pound All-State tight end. “It’s definitely great to have him on the team. He’s steady and important in games like this.”
Correll Akings tacked on a 2-yard TD run late to give Wilson a 28-3 lead at halftime.
Lebron Leaf hit Joe Murray for a 23-yard touchdown with 3:38 left in the third quarter for the Mustangs to cut the lead to 18 but Monty Greer responded with a 13-yard TD run a minute later for Wilson.
Young sealed the game when he somehow escaped a sack, rolled out to the right and found Elijah Dean in the corner of the end zone for a 7-yard score with 7:50 remaining in the fourth quarter.
“I don’t know how it happened,” Young said. “My receiver just did a great job of keeping the play alive and kept running with me. It was cool.”
He could’ve used that last sentence to describe his game Friday night.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Gov. Mifflin | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| Wilson | 7 | 21 | 7 | 7 | 42 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Wilson | Carpenter, 31 pass from Young (Oxenreider kick) | 11:47 |
| 1 | Gov. Mifflin | Koenig, 24 field goal | 4:42 |
| 2 | Wilson | D. Greer, 64 pass from Young (Oxenreider kick) | 11:45 |
| 2 | Wilson | Glover, 74 pass from Young (Oxenreider kick) | 5:26 |
| 2 | Wilson | Akings, 2 run (Oxenreider kick) | 1:21 |
| 3 | Gov. Mifflin | Murray, 23 pass from Leaf (Koenig kick) | 3:38 |
| 3 | Wilson | M. Greer, 13 run (Oxenreider kick) | 2:17 |
| 4 | Wilson | Dean, 7 pass from Young (Oxenreider kick) | 7:50 |
Team statistics
| MIFFLIN | WILSON | |
| First downs | 16 | 17 |
| Rushes-yards | 45-161 | 28-153 |
| Passing yards | 74 | 266 |
| Total yards | 235 | 419 |
| Passes | 6-11-1 | 9-12-1 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-1 | 0-0 |
| Punts-average | 2-35 | 2-36.5 |
| Penalties-yards | 5-45 | 12-117 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Gov. Mifflin: Steuer 11-64, Kalis 16-43, R. Overley 7-22, Leaf 8-21, C. Overley 1-9, Miller 1-3, King 1-(-1).
Wilson: Akings 11-73, M. Greer 6-54, Young 6-20, Ulrich 3-16, Team 2-(-10).
PASSING
Gov. Mifflin: Leaf 6-10-1—74, Miller 0-1-0—0.
Wilson: Young 7-10-1—234, Peterson 2-2-0—32.
RECEIVING
Gov. Mifflin: Murray 3-44, Steuer 2-25, C. Overley 1-5.
Wilson: Glover 2-101, Dean 2-28, D. Greer 1-64, Carpenter 1-31, Nyembo 1-18, Youtz 1-14, Akings 1-10.
INTERCEPTIONS
Gov. Mifflin: Steuer.
Wilson: Akings.
These photos and others from the game can by purchased from PhilMarPhoto.
