Mustangs continue rebound with lopsided win over Muhls
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Gov. Mifflin finished 3-7 last season for its first losing record in 19 years. That left a sour taste in the mouths of the returning players and coaches.
The Mustangs have equaled that win total in half a season.
“I give credit to all of our leaders,” said junior back Reese Hohl, who was a freshman on the Nick Singleton-led team that started 12-0 before an upset loss to Exeter in the district championship.
“They’ve really helped us through last year,” Hohl said. “They know what it’s like to be good. I feel like they’ve picked it up. We’re just one big team this year.”
Hohl led the Mustangs in rushing, caught a touchdown pass, ran for another and intercepted a pass to lead Mifflin to a 49-7 victory over Muhlenberg Friday night in a Lancaster-Lebanon Section 2 match-up in Shillington.
Senior captain fullback and linebacker Brandon Jones also had a productive night: He ran for two touchdowns, registered a sack, and snagged an interception.
The all-around effort was even more important coming off a 22-point loss to Exeter and heading on the road to face rival Wilson next week.
“We rebounded very well,” Jones said of the Mustangs (1-1, 3-2), who rushed for 356 yards. “We came together and decided we were going to come out, execute, and play as well as we can.”
Junior fullback Grady Garner was the final piece in Mifflin’s three-headed monster out of the backfield, finishing with 73 yards and two scores.
“I love the balance,” Jones said. “When you have multiple guys who can go punch it in, it adds different variables to your offense and gives you different ways to score.”
The Mustangs piled up 238 first-half rushing yards and forced a running clock after going ahead 35-0 with 18 seconds left in the second quarter.
“This win was really good for our team,” Hohl said. “It gets us back on our feet especially since we have our rivals next week. It’ll just help us get better.”
The Muhls (1-1, 1-4) generated only 141 yards and three different quarterbacks threw interceptions.
Muhlenberg starting quarterback Aaden Lopez was taken off on a stretcher late in the second quarter and transported to a local hospital by ambulance.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Muhlenberg | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Gov. Mifflin | 15 | 20 | 7 | 7 | 49 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Gov. Mifflin | Jones, 31 run (Koenig kick) | 10:38 |
| 1 | Gov. Mifflin | Safety | 3:15 |
| 1 | Gov. Mifflin | Garner, 15 run (Koenig kick failed) | 0:00 |
| 2 | Gov. Mifflin | Garner, 10 run (Koenig kick) | 6:49 |
| 2 | Gov. Mifflin | Hohl, 3 run (Koenig kick) | 2:30 |
| 2 | Gov. Mifflin | Hohl, 11 pass from Pletz (Koenig kick failed) | 0:18 |
| 3 | Gov. Mifflin | Jones, 3 run (Koenig kick) | 1:40 |
| 4 | Muhlenberg | Dodson, 17 pass from Cipolla (Madueno kick) | 6:49 |
| 4 | Gov. Mifflin | Sanchez, 10 run (Koenig kick) | 3:54 |
Team statistics
| Muhlenberg | Gov. Mifflin | |
| First downs | 7 | 21 |
| Rushes-yards | 19-32 | 42-356 |
| Passing yards | 109 | 35 |
| Total yards | 141 | 391 |
| Passes | 12-20-3 | 3-10-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 3-0 | 2-1 |
| Punts-average | 4-26 | 1-37 |
| Penalties-yards | 8-64 | 6-55 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Muhlenberg: Ortiz 5-15, Miller 2-7, Lopez 7-6, Coley 1-3, Torok 4-1.
Gov. Mifflin: Hohl 7-93, Garner 10-73, Jones 7-64, Pletz 7-35, Bonfadini 1-29, Jenkins 3-18, Sanchez 2-16, Leaf 1-10, Wunderlich 1-10, Alvarez 2-9, Team 1-(-1).
PASSING
Muhlenberg: Cipolla 11-13-1–101, Coley 1-2-1–8, Lopez 0-5-1–0.
Gov. Mifflin: Pletz 3-9-0–35, Hohl 0-1-0–0.
RECEIVING
Muhlenberg: Miller 5-22, Dodson 4-47, Madueno 1-27, Ortiz 1-7, Cruz 1-6.
Gov. Mifflin: Northan 1-12, Jones 1-12, Hohl 1-11.
INTERCEPTIONS
Gov. Mifflin: Hohl, Jones, Northan.
