Mifflin beaten at the wire by Conestoga Valley

(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)

By Michael Pollis — LNP/Lancasteronline

WITMER — At halftime, the Gov. Mifflin marching band put on a mesmerizing performance titled “Out of the Ashes,” complete with a flute solo and a large colorful flag that covered half the width of the field.

It was the Conestoga Valley Buckskins who played the part of the mythological phoenix, rising up not just once, but twice from the ashes of apparent defeat to outlast the Mustangs 34-31 on a 28-yard field goal by David Irwin with two seconds remaining.

Earlier in the game the Mustangs got a program-record 51-yard field goal from Jackson Schools; that topped the mark of 45 yards by Brandon Snyder in 2008.

The decisive Buckskins’ drive came after a 34-yard touchdown pass from Delsin McNeil to Gerrell McNeil tied the game and put the momentum in Mifflin’s favor.

The resilient Buckskins (2-1, 4-3) went right to work, using some tough running by Nick Tran and Jayden Johnson, along with some timely passes from Macoy Kneisley to Jeff Fisher and Ish Camacho, to set up the decisive kick.

Earlier in the fourth quarter Conestoga Valley engineered a masterful six-minute drive, capped by a 20-yard touchdown run from Collin Martin to move ahead 31-24.

Conestoga Valley overcame a 14-0 deficit with three touchdowns over the course of six plays in the second quarter.

The first score came on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Kneisley to Johnson. Kneisley used a great play-action fake to freeze the defense and then found Johnson on the right hashmark. From there Johnson, juked two defenders and raced down the right sideline for the score.

After the ensuing kickoff, Fisher recovered a fumble on Mifflin’s first snap from scrimmage. CV traveled 19 yards on four plays, culminating with a 4-yard touchdown run by Tran.

On the next play from scrimmage, Malachi Santana intercepted a tipped pass and raced 50 yards down the left sideline to give the Buckskins a 21-14 lead in front of their raucous home crowd.

A multitude of Mustangs miscues resulted in their 14-point lead quickly vanishing and also aiding the long second-half drives by Conestoga Valley. Mifflin (1-2, 2-5) committed a total of 12 penalties for 120 yards. Perhaps the most costly were a pass interference and personal foul for a late hit out of bounds in the fourth. Mifflin also turned the ball over four times in the first half.

Mifflin built an early lead thanks to two 54-yard scoring plays. The first came on the game’s first drive when Delsin McNeil faked a handoff, rolled left, faked a pitch, then cut back inside and outran the defense down the left sideline.

Later in the first quarter, Brandon Jones took a handoff right up the middle and sprinted through the defense for the second 54-yarder.

Late in the first half Schools’ booming field goal to cut CV’s lead to 21-17.

	1	2	3	4	Final
Gov. Mifflin	14	3	0	14	31
Conestoga Valley	0	21	3	10	34

Scoring summary

1	Gov. Mifflin	D. McNeil, 54 run (Schools kick)
1	Gov. Mifflin	Jones, 54 run (Schools kick)
2	Conestoga Valley	Johnson, 24 pass from Kneisley (Irwin kick)
2	Conestoga Valley	Tran, 4 run (Irwin kick)
2	Conestoga Valley	Santana, 50 interception return (Irwin kick)
2	Gov. Mifflin	Schools, 51 FG
3	Conestoga Valley	Irwin, 24 FG
4	Gov. Mifflin	Jones, 46 run (Schools kick)
4	Conestoga Valley	Martin, 20 run (Irwin kick)
4	Gov. Mifflin	G. McNeil, 34 pass from D. McNeil (Schools kick)
4	Conestoga Valley	Irwin, 28 FG

Team statistics

	Gov. Mifflin	Conestoga Valley
First downs	12	13
Rushes-yards	32-280	43-183
Passing yards	69	114
Total yards	349	297
Passes	3-11	11-21
Fumbles-lost	2-2	0-0
Punts-average	10.3	12.5
Penalties-yards	12-120	7-55

Individual statistics

RUSHING

Gov. Mifflin: Jones 10-131, D. McNeil 14-99, Harter 6-41, Martin 2-9.

PASSING

Gov. Mifflin: D. McNeil 3-11-2–69.

RECEIVING

Gov. Mifflin: Martin 2-35, G. McNeil 1-34.