Gov. Mifflin routs Fleetwood to clinch Section 1 title
Governor Mifflin claimed the BCIAA Section 1 crown for a second consecutive campaign by brute force Friday night in front of a Senior Night crowd at Mustang Stadium with a 49-10 mauling of the Fleetwood Tigers.
The Mustangs (8-1, 5-0 Berks 1) hung 42 first-quarter points on the overwhelmed Tigers (0-9, 0-6) and reached mercy clock parameters with just 7:49 of total game time elapsed.
Governor Mifflin wraps the regular season at Conrad Weiser next Friday. The best second-place Exeter can do is tie the Mustangs with a win and a Mifflin loss; however, Mifflin won the head-to-head meeting 28-14 in September.
It was the Bryce Stubler Show Friday night during that electrifying opening quarter against the Tigers. Stubler caught a touchdown pass, recovered two fumbles on defense that led to two more scores and returned a punt for a 44-yard touchdown -- all during the opening 7:49 of play.
Mifflin’s offense had the football for a grand total nine snaps during the first quarter and scored touchdowns on five of them. Stubler’s 44-yard punt return for score, which made it 14-0
3:05 in, was the sixth.
Running back Isaac Ruoss touched the football three times and scored a touchdown on all three with runs of 48, 1 and 13 yards, respectively. Quarterback Kam Wolfe was 4 of 5 passing for 84 yards and those two scores to Stubler before giving way to back-up Kolbie Reeser for the balance of the evening.
“It was a great team win, everyone was executing their blocks and Kam was finding me,” Stubler said. “The (second) fumble (recovery), the ball just fell right in my hands and I tried to make the most of that.”
A third Fleetwood fumble, early in the second quarter, gave the Mustangs the football deep in Tigers’ territory. Reeser took a knee at the Fleetwood 7 with eight minutes and change yet to play in the first half and the Mustangs turned it over on downs.
Mifflin head coach Mick Vecchio, more than a quarter-century on the job, always recalls his earlier days when making unorthodox calls like that in the name of sportsmanship. It’s a tough call to make, he acknowledged, because you want your backups to play football, too.
“You know, I’ve been the head football coach here for a long time,” Vecchio said, “and we’ve been on the receiving end of these things. I’m very happy tonight, but I’ve never forgotten how that felt.
“They’re (Fleetwood) struggling. … It’s just one of those things when you get to be an old man, you get very sentimental about kids.”
Reeser later added a 4-yard keeper for a score with 2:13 left in the third quarter for the game’s final margin.
Fleetwood’s Seth Wagner accounted for all 10 of his club’s points. Wagner hit a 25-yard field goal to close the first half, capping a 10-play, 78-yard drive -- by far the Tigers’ best series of the night. He ripped off a 47-yard run for a score, with Mifflin’s defensive starters departed, in the third quarter. And he kicked the extra point. Wagner finished with 59 rushing yards on nine totes.
Tigers diminutive sophomore quarterback David Schaeffer (listed at 5-foot-4, 125 pounds) attempted just two passes before departing late but hit on both of them, good for 38 and eight yards, to finish his night 2 of 2 for 46 yards.
EXETER 42, READING 18 »
Brandon Unterkoefler threw for two touchdown passes and ran for two scores as the Eagles continued their push for a place in the District 3 Class 5A playoffs.
Unterkoefler rushed for 178 yards and was 5-for-10 for 81 yards. Jack Fiucci had two TD receptions.
Gage Moran rushed for 157 yards and scored two TDs as Exeter ran out to a 35-6 halftime lead.
Exeter (4-1, 6-3) closes out the regular season on Nov. 3 against Daniel Boone.
The Eagles are ranked No. 8 for the eight-team Class 5A bracket entering the final week. Cedar Cliff (6-3) and Dover (6-3) are in close pursuit at Nos. 9 and 10, respectively.
CONRAD WEISER 35, DANIEL BOONE 21 »
A tight game turned in a 34-second span in the third quarter as the Scouts used two TDs to take the Section 2 matchup.
Tied 14-14 at the half, Cameron Casner recovered a blocked punt in the end zone before Aidan Kreitz returned an interception 37 yards for a TD on the ensuing possession, swinging the game into a 28-14 lead the Blazers couldn’t rally from.
Boone quarterback Josh Ehst was 15-for-26 for 229 yards with three TDs and an interception. He connected with Matt Okuniewski (5 catches, 44 yards), Tommy Buchert (4-83) and Dylan Walker (2-71) on TDs.
Buchert and Ethan Darrenkamp had interceptions on defense for Boone, which outgained CW 369-243.
Daniel Boone (2-3, 2-7) closes out its season at Exeter on Nov. 3.
BERKS CATHOLIC WINS BY FORFEIT »
The Kutztown football team was forced to forfeit its Oct. 27 game against Berks Catholic due an injury-decimated roster that left the Cougars with just 13 healthy players.
The Cougars (0-8) began the season with just 22 players and saw three more injured, including starting quarterback Charlie Maddocks, in last week’s 49-6 loss to Wyomissing.
Berks Catholic is 8-0 and ranked No. 3 in the state in Class 4A, winning by an average margin of 43 points. The Saints made preliminary attempts to fill the vacant date on their schedule but opted to avoid the short preparation in anticipation of their unbeaten showdown with Wyomissing the following week.