Mifflin’s Grady Garner strikes like lightning as Mustangs zap Bears
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Mike Drago — MikeDragoSports.com Managing Editor
The only thing that slowed down the Gov. Mifflin Mustangs Friday night was a sky full of lightning.
Other than that the Mustangs went unstopped, especially Grady Garner.
The junior fullback broke off three long scoring runs in the first half as the Mustangs built a 35-0 first-half lead over Boyertown in a non-league game at Mifflin Stadium.
The game was suspended at halftime and resumed Saturday morning, with the Mustangs completing the 35-16 victory.
The Bears (1-2) were up 13-0 a week ago against Exeter before losing but never got close to the lead this week. They didn’t have a first down until the final play of the first half and were outgained 235-21 in the first half.
The Mustangs (2-1) went 67 yards for a score on the opening drive of the game, quarterback Javien Pletz running it in from the 6.
After the Bears turned it over on a fumble Garner ran 41 yards on the Mustangs’ first play for a 13-0 lead.
Boyertown lost yardage on its next possession and punted from its own 17. Brandon Jones smothered it, knocking it into the end zone where Stewart Janoski covered it for a touchdown and 19-0 lead. Reese Hohl’s conversion run made it 21-0.
Garner added touchdown runs of 25 and 18 yards, the last just 1:02 before the half.
The game was delayed for 36 minutes at the outset due to lighting and then again at halftime, when the game was finally suspended until the next day.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Boyertown | 0 | 0 | 16 | ||
| Gov. Mifflin | 28 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 35 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Gov. Mifflin | Pletz, 6 run (Koenig kick) | 7:56 |
| 1 | Gov. Mifflin | Garner, 41 run (run failed) | 6:34 |
| 1 | Gov. Mifflin | Janowski, recovered blocked punt in end zone (Hohl run) | 5:19 |
| 1 | Gov. Mifflin | Garner, 25 run (Koenig kick) | :31 |
| 2 | Gov. Mifflin | Garner, 18 run (Koenig kick) | 1:02 |
| 3 | Boyertown | Sennott, 84 kickoff return (Oakes run) | 11:44 |
| 3 | Boyertown | Gehris, 4 run (Yesavage run) | 1:59 |
Team statistics
| Boyertown | Gov. Mifflin | |
| First downs | 3 | 15 |
| Rushes-yards | 22-88 | 55-323 |
| Passing yards | 22 | 22 |
| Total yards | 110 | 345 |
| Passes | 3-6-0–22 | 1-2-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-1 | 0-0 |
| Punts-average | 4-25.8 | 1-28.0 |
| Penalties-yards | 6-36 | 5-40 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Boyertown: Yesavage13-93, Gehris 6-1, Genovese 1-(-3), Oakes 2-(-3).
Gov. Mifflin: Garner 25-185, Sanchez 3-38, Pletz 6-32, Jones 6-26, Alvarez 7-24, Jenkins 3-16, Leaf 2-2, Wunderlich 2-2, Hohl 1-(-2).
PASSING
Boyertown: Gehris 3-6-0–22.
Gov. Mifflin: Pletz 1-2-0–22.
RECEIVING
Boyertown: Yesavage 2-14, Daddario 1-8.
Gov. Mifflin: Jones 1-22.
