MC Huskies fall to West Perry to end season

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: October 26, 2019

By BRIAN CARSON

ELLIOTTSBURG – Mifflin County saw its season end on the gridiron Friday night thanks to the skills and talents of Kenyon Johnson.

The Huyskies had one major assignment if it wanted to beat West Perry and earn a second trip to the District 6 Class 6A championships against State College.

The goal was to contain Johnson, the Mustang’s all-everything quarterback. Husky coach Scot Sechler had a plan to keep him off the field with a ball control power running game.

It didn’t work.

Johnson gashed the Huskies with 180 yards rushing and three touchdowns to lead West Perry to the 35-13 Mid-Penn Colonial victory Friday night.

With the loss, Mifflin County ends the season at 3-7 and misses out on the playoffs after failing to finish .500 in the conference. The Huskies ended Colonial play at 2-4.

“It’s a good group of kids who have a lot of heart. When things weren’t going well, they hung in there and didn’t give up. I’m proud of them,” Sechler said. “It shows they are fighters and that’s what it’s all about. Obviously, the season didn’t go anywhere near how we planned it, but the seniors stuck in there, continued to fight and showed the younger kids that you don’t give up.”

Johnson missed the second half of last week’s game against Waynesboro with a mild concussion. He showed no ill-effectsleading the Mustangs with 248 of the team’s 336 total yards.

Mifflin County started the game with a long 10-play drive, but the momentum the Huskies built ended when the drive stalled at the West Perry 30.

The Mustangs (6-4, 3-3) took advantage with a 9-play, 70-yard drive capped by a Johnson 20-yard TD run around the left side to make it 7-0 with 3:35 to go in the first.

West Perry brought out the trickeration with an onside kick that Taylor Herrera recovered on the Husky 27. Six plays later, Tad Zeigler took it in form the 1 for the score. The PAT failed giving the home team the 13-0 lead at 1:37 of the first quarter.

Johnson struck again in the second quarter running the read-option to perfection. Johnson faked the handoff to Adam Thoman and took it around the left side for a 59 -yard score allowing West Perry to hold a 20-0 lead at the break.

“We just didn’t have an answer for Johnson tonight. He’s a heck of an athlete and once he breaks contain, it’s hard to stop him,” Sechler said.

West Perry scored on its first drive if the second half, marching on a 7-play, 70-yard drive capped by Johnson’s third TD run, this one from four-yards out. The two-point conversion pass from Isaiah Weller to Johnson made it 28-0 with 9:33 left in the quarter.

Late in the third the Mustangs ended any hopes of a Husky comeback with a one-yard scoring plunge by Zeigler for his second TD of the game. The PAT made it 35-0 heading into the fourth.

Mifflin County showcased some pluck and fight with two touchdowns in the final 12 minutes.

The first was a one-yard score by Brycen Hassinger. The Husky junior, who finished with 85 yards rushing, keyed the drive with a 43-yard run on a fake punt facing a 4th-and-19.

“I think we are going in the right direction. The record didn’t show it this year, but we have a lot of kids who bought into the program and believe what we’re doing,” Sechler said. “Aristotle said excellence is a habit. You are what you repeatedly do. We are getting more positive attitudes from the kids and that will help them in the future to be successful on the field and in life.”

The Huskies ended the scoring with a 35-yard touchdown pass from Chris Sheetz to Tommy Bender on the right corner of the end zone. Sheetz finished 7-of-11 passing for 93 yards.

After the game, Sechler was optimistic about the future of the Huskies.

“The future is bright for sure. We have most of the offensive line back, the backfield is essentially back and Jayden Jackson returns at receiver,” Sechler said. “We have a good group of younger kids coming up next year that have a lot of talent. I feel we’re going to do great things. I’m sad right now, but we have good kids and I truly believe the future of the program is fantastic.”

West Perry 35, Mifflin County 13

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Mifflin County 0 0 0 13 — 13

West Perry 13 7 15 0 – 35

First quarter

WP—Johnson 20 run (Quaker kick), 3:35.

WP—Zeigler 1 run (kick failed), 1:37.

Second quarter

WP—Johnson 59 run (Quaker kick), 9:53.

Third quarter

W—Johnson 4 run (Johnson pass from Weller), 9:33.

MC–Zeigler 1 run (Quaker kick), 2:35.

Fourth quarter

MC–Hassinger 1 run (Carter kick), 8:42.

MC–Bender 35 pass from Sheetz (kick failed), 5:38.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: MC—G. Schaeffer 9-50, Hassinger 18-85 TD, R. Henry 7-23, Hunter 3-(-4), Sheetz 5-(-31). West Perry—Johnson 17-180 3TD, Thoman 8-49, Zeigler 8-21 2 TD, Weller 2-(-1), Gutshall 1-(-2), Poticher 2-(-6).

PASSING: MC—Hassinger 6-12-53-1, Sheetz 7-11-93-0. West Perry—Johnson 5-8-68-0, Gutshall 3-3-28-0.

RECEIVING: MC—Schaeffer 4-35, Bender 3-51 TD, Jackson 1-13, Krepps 1-8, McCalips 2-24, Hunter 2-15. West Perry—Quaker 5-62, Stambaugh 1-11, Rollman 1-13, Rosenberry 1-10.

TEAM STATISTICS WP MC

First downs 16 16

Rushes-yards 38-240 34-123

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 8-11-0 13-23-1

Yards passing 96 146

Total yards 336 269

Fumbles-lost 1-1 3-0

Penalties-yards 1-5 4-41

Punts-avg. 1-24.03-25.3