Season preview: Gov. Mifflin Mustangs
2024 Berks football coverage
presented by UECU
Classification: Class 6A.
League: Lancaster-Lebanon Section 2.
Schedule: Click here.
Last season: 3-3 Section 2, 5-6 overall.
Last District 3 playoff appearance: 2021.
(Chris Knight/LNP photo)
Head coach: Nick Morrissey, first season.
Key losses: FB/LB Brandon Jones, T/DE Kabine Toure, T/DT Stew Janowski, CB Chase Rapp.
Top offensive players: QB Javien Pletz, second-team all-league FB Grady Garner (708 yards), FB Dan Bonfadini, RB and all-league ATH/KR Reese Hohl, RB Travis Jenkins, WR Jahmier Johnson, TE Derek Dinatale, C Gavin Kelly, G Dylon Worley, G Presley Rinker, T Ryan Cozzone, T Cooper Seifert.
Top defensive players: E Bryce Tully, E Ryan Cozzone, T Gavin Kelly, T Noah Viruet, T Ismael Ayala IV, T Mason Schools, LB Dan Bonfadini, LB Derek Dinatale, LB Dylan Worley, S/P Travis Jenkins, S Cam Overley, S Lebron Leaf, all-league CB Reese Hohl, CB Stephan Mayo.
Did you know? Gov. Mifflin posted the highest winning percentage in Inter-County League/Berks Football League history, going 95-10 (905) in league play over its 18 seasons (2004-2021). Berks Catholic (.864) is next, following by the Wyomissing Spartans (.728). Over the 65-year history of the league, the Spartans won the most league games (289); Exeter was next at 265.
For the record: Christian Jeznach set a program record in 2011 with eight interceptions. Reese Hohl had six last season.
On schedule: Seven of the Mustangs’ 10 opponents reached the postseason last season: Pleasant Valley (Week 1), Perkiomen Valley (2), Exeter (4), Wilson (6), Conestoga Valley (7), Elizabethtown (9) and Ephrata (10).
Quotable: “We want to be that team to overcome that hurdle after two losing seasons. . . 3-7 (in 2022), that’s horrible. . . 5-6 (last year). Breaking that barrier (is important and) I think we have the chance to do it.” – Senior back Reese Hohl.
Outlook: When he was hired in December head coach Nick Morrissey vowed not to change the offensive scheme that’s been so successful at Mifflin over the past two decades. The names on his first roster may force his hand.
Talented open-space play-makers such as Reese Hohl, Steph Mayo, Travis Jenkins, and Lebron Leaf could prompt the Mustangs to actually throw a pass on first down, something that hasn’t been witnessed around Shillington since the Bush administration – the first one, back in the 1990’s.
“We have a lot of weapons on the edges that are gonna surprise people,” Morrissey said, “(guys) we usually don’t have out there that I really think are gonna give people fits. We’re still gonna do what we do and run our Triple (Option) stuff but we’ve gotta force teams to cover.”
Mick Vecchio, the architect of the Mustangs’ dominating run-first offense, will be the man calling those passes. After easing back from the program in recent years he’s back on board 100 percent as the Offensive Coordinator; his son Mike will assist him there. Youngest son Doc is back to run the special teams.
Don’t expect the Mustangs to go pass-happy: Their bread and butter remains the run game. They’ve got all-league caliber offensive linemen in Gavin Kelly and Presley Rinker and a fullback in Grady Garner who can make it go. He averaged 6.2 yards per carry, topped 700 yards, and was a second-team all-league pick as a junior.
The centerpiece of the offense will be senior Reece Hohl, an all-league kick returner who will line up at tailback when the Mustangs are in the I-formation and in the slot when they’re running the Midline. He’s great in space and will be used outside as a receiver. He could even take snaps as a Wildcat QB.
Improved quarterback play is a key, of course. Javien Pletz, who split time there early last season before winning the job outright, completed only 37 percent of his passes and threw more INTs than TDs. Those numbers need to get turned around.
Morrissey is expecting his big defensive line, led by Kelly, newcomer Noah Viruet, and 340-pounder Ismael Ayala IV to be tough against the run. What they don’t stop should get cleaned up by LBs Dylan Worley and Dan Bonfadini, who have impressed during offseason workouts.
Hohl is the stalwart in the secondary. He’s a lockdown corner who had a Berks-leading six INTs a year ago.
“We will go as our defensive line goes,” Morrissey said. “We have four or five kids up front that should not be moved. If they can dominate, we’ll be a force.”
Don’t expect the Mustangs to immediately return to the status they enjoyed in the Berks Football League, where they once won 13 section titles in a 15-year stretch. They could end a slump that’s seen them finish with losing records in back-to-back seasons for the first time since early in the Bush Administration – the second one.
At the wire: Darkhorse in Section 2, chasing Exeter, Conestoga Valley and Ephrata; a rugged non-league schedule will make it a challenge to climb back over .500.
