Nick Singleton, Gov. Mifflin overwhelm Wilson once again

Some may have scoffed when Doug Dahms suggested Gov. Mifflin might better now than it was a season ago.

After watching the Mustangs tear through the Bulldogs Friday night at Mifflin Stadium it might be hard to argue with the Wilson coach.

The Mustangs reached the end zone on each of their first four possessions, forced three first-half turnovers and had the Bulldogs on their heels the entire way in scoring a 42-14 victory in the GoBigRecruiting.com Game of the Week.

They maintained possession of the Gurski-Linn Trophy for the second straight season and recorded a mercy-rule win over the Bulldogs in consecutive seasons, something the Mustangs had never done before.

Nick Singleton scored three touchdowns, breaking the all-time Berks record of 79, but it was more than just the Penn State recruit who was hammering the Bulldogs.

It was the Mustangs’ overall power and speed, at positions up and down the lineup. They dominated every phase of the game, made big runs on offense and hammered the Bulldogs with their hard-hitting defenseFour different Mifflin players scored touchdowns in the first 15 minutes in building a 28-0 lead.

The Mustangs took advantage of short fields, a couple times following short punts in the first quarter. Their first four possessions each start in Wilson territory, at the 35, 35, 46 and 40.

Trey Rock gave Mifflin the lead with a 9-yard TD run less than seven minutes in.

After a sack and fumble by Wilson quarterback Brad Hoffman, the Bulldogs took over at the 35. Quarterback Eden Johnson covered that distance in one play, lowering his shoulder at the line of scrimmage to run over a defender before turning the corner and racing to the end zone to make it 14-0.

The next score belonged to Nick Singleton. First he made a shoetip grab on an interception and returned it to the Wilson 46. Two plays later he took a pitch around right end for a 37-yard score and 20-0 lead.

Backup quarterback Delvin McNeil led the next drive. He hooked up on a 28-yard pass with Ayden Martin, then ran the final 2 yards for a TD. Johnson’s two-point conversion run made it 28-0 with 9:24 left in the first half.

Wilson threatened to score only once in the firt half, driving to the 6. Hoffman was picked off in the end zone by Johnson to end the threat.

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Singleton scored his record 80th TD on a 32-yard run to make it 42-7 with 8:25 remaining.

Games have gotten out of hand the last two seasons, and several times recently. Wilson won 61-14 at Mifflin in 2019 and 38-7 in both 2016 and 2013. Mifflin won 48-7 last year.

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.

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 left 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 had won seven of the previous nine trophy games, including the first five (playoff meetings do not count in the trophy series).

Note: This story will be updated with details, quotes and photos later tonight.