Huskies play tough again; falls 20-13

By rscaife
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Updated: September 15, 2018

By BRIAN CARSON

DILLSBURG – For the third straight week the Mifflin County football team had a chance to win a ball game only to see it slip through their fingers once again.

The Huskies rang up 328 yards of total offense – including a season-high 208 yards on the ground – but still came up short in a 20-13 loss to Northern York in the Mid-Penn Colonial opener for both schools Friday evening at Robert F. Bostic Field.

Mifflin County (0-4, 0-1) squandered two chances to score inside the five. The first came on a fourth-and-goal from the 4 when a Noah Wright to Isaiah Collins pass in the endzone was incomplete in the second quarter. The second happened on a fourth-and-2 from the 4 as fullback Nathan Poche came inches short of a fourth-and-2 situation when he was stopped at the 2for a one-yard gain.

The Huskies were in the red zone of the Polar Bears five times and came away with only one score.

“We had some good calls. The one down here was a quick slant and the kid for Northern (Blake Cruz) had it covered. We could have scored on a corner route, so that one was on us,” Mifflin County coach Scot Sechler said. “We had some pretty good play calls but Northern had guys step up and make plays. They are a darn good team who are very well coached. We just didn’t come out on top tonight.”

Northern York (3-1, 1-0) struck gold on the first play of the game when Kyle Swartz, star tailback for the Polar Bears, took the opening kick 87 yards for the touchdown 14 seconds into the game. The Bay Blaschak PAT made it 7-0.

“It was a missed kicked ball. It was supposed to go on the ground and not to him. When things like that happen it’s obviously a big momentum shifter on the first play of the game,” Sechler said. “We told the kids there are four quarters, don’t get down, and take it one quarter at a time. It’s about forgetting what happened in the past and focusing on what we have ahead of us.”

Mifflin County answered the score by marching on a 75-yard drive that ended when Nathan Poche, the lead back in a three-fullback backfield, took the handoff and scampered down the left sideline for a 32-yard touchdown. The kick failed and the Huskies found themselves down 7-6 with 6:52 left in the first quarter.

Poche finished with a career high 77 yards on 14 carries. Sophomore Trey Kibe, making his first start for the injured Gage Schaeffer, collected 89 yards on 24 carries to lead the Husky rushing attack.

“We knew Kibe was a stud and that’s the beauty of it. We are lucky to have two young backs who are really good,” Sechler said. “Honestly, we’ve kept Kibe back a bit because he was playing so much defense. We didn’t want to overwork him. Kibe did a heck of job running the ball tonight. Same with Poche, he’s a hard runner and very determined. The effort those guys are giving us is incredible.”

Northern made it 13-6 with 2:11 to go in the first quarter when quarterback Chris Barrett connected with Tim Geiser on a 23-yard strike in the back of the left corner of the endzone. Barrett finished the game 6-for-6 for 64 yards passing and 84 yards on 16 carries on the ground.

Mifflin County started the second half going on a drive that ate up eight minutes of the third quarter only to stall on the Polar Bear 4. The Huskies did even things up at 13-all after Kibe took it in from the 5 with 9:35 to go in regulation.

Northern York battled back and drove down the field from its own 40 and scored the go-ahead touchdown when Swartz bulled in from four yards out. Swartz ended the game with 93 yards on 16 carries. The junior tailback owns seven of the teams 10 TDs this season.

The Huskies had a chance to tie the game and force overtime but with second-and-10 from midfield, a Noah Wright pass went off the hands of Isaiah Collins and into the arms of Polar Bear linebacker Luke Horvath ending the game.

“It’s difficult to be 0-4, but we don’t focus on the past. We look ahead to the next game. Right now, we are focused on Shippensburg,” Sechler said. “We want to get better and better. We have work to do for sure. The kids are working hard and putting forth the effort and I’m very proud of them.”

Mifflin County hosts Shippensburg in a Mid-Penn Colonial matchup on Friday.