Mifflinburg overcomes sloppy start, beats Hughesville

Scott Dudinskie, The Daily Item, Sunbury, Pa.
·4 min read

Sep. 18—HUGHESVILLE — Jason Dressler received the halftime message rather than giving it to his Mifflinburg football team Friday, and to the coach's credit he listened.

"The kids are like, 'Coach, don't have a heart attack. We're OK,'" Dressler said after the Wildcats' 25-12 win over Hughesville. "I love that."

With a chance to start the season 3-1 against the winless Spartans, Mifflinburg played a sloppy first half that included four turnovers and twice as many penalties — including one that negated a touchdown. The difference in the Heartland Athletic Conference crossover was the Wildcats' ability to overcome the mistakes.

Despite the issues, they still scored three first-half touchdowns and defended the host Spartans very well.

"It was very frustrating. We should have done better in the first half," said Mifflinburg junior Andrew Diehl, who caught a TD pass, ran for a score and intercepted two passes. "I am very proud of the boys. It was a great win."

Wildcats sophomore quarterback Troy Dressler passed for 224 yards and two touchdowns; junior Zack Wertman caught four balls for 70 yards and a score; and junior Carter Breed added 47 yards and a TD on the ground.

It was Mifflinburg's third consecutive win ahead of a tough series against Shamokin (home), Milton (away) and Montoursville (away).

In the first quarter alone Friday, the Wildcats had to overcome third-and-24 on their opening series, a 57-yard drive that ended with Breed's 17-yard scoring bolt. They lost fumbles on their next two possessions, and Hughesville pulled within 7-6 on a halfback option pass from Joey Swink to Tyler Fowler. Lastly, an illegal block wiped out a 55-yard scoring toss from Dressler to Wertman late in the period.

However, in the second quarter, Dressler found Diehl open down the left seam for a 40-yard touchdown with 9:10 to play before the half. With just more than a minute remaining, Dressler lofted a 37-yard scoring pass to Wertman, who leaped to catch the ball over a defender near the left pylon. The 19-6 lead took the edge off the team's eight penalties for 85 yards.

"We talked about it at halftime like, 'What's the problem here? We're hurting ourselves,'" said Dressler. "You look at all those penalties and so forth, and we overcome that and still come out with a victory. We look at the guys constantly faced with adversity, even if it's self-caused, and we move forward. Those are positives. We focus on those, and work to get better at the other things."

Diehl made a toe-tap interception near the sideline to thwart Hughesville's opening drive of the second half. Diehl then capped a 12-play march that bridged the third and fourth quarters with a 4-yard TD run for a 25-6 lead.

Hughesville answered by covering 52 yards on 13 plays — converting fourth down twice along the way — to pull within two scores on Swink's 1-yard sneak. The Spartans forced a punt, but Gabe Stetler boomed the ball 55 yards to the Hughesville 30, and Diehl picked the ball on the next snap.

"I was very much hunting it and wanting the ball in the air," Diehl said. "I was going for that all week."

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MIFFLINBURG 25, HUGHESVILLE 12

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Mifflinburg (3-1);7;12;0;6 — 25

Hughesville (0-4);6;0;0;6 — 12

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

M-Carter Breed 17 run (Gabe Stetler kick), 8:31

H-Tyler Fowler 30 pass from Joey Swink (kick failed), 1:53

Second quarter

M-Andrew Diehl 40 pass from Troy Dressler (kick failed) 9:10

M-Zach Wertman 37 pass from Dressler (run failed) 1:19

Fourth quarter

M-Diehl 4 run (run failed) 11:42

H-Swink 1 run (pass failed) 4:14

TEAM STATISTICS

;M;H

First downs;19;9

Rushes-yards;31-112;29-32

Passing yards;224;102

Comp.-att.-int.;13-24-2;9-22-4

Fumbles-lost;2-2;2-0

Penalties-yards;10-105;12-86

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Mifflinburg: Andrew Diehl 13-64, TD; Carter Breed 8-47, TD; Jacob Bingaman 1-2; Gabe Stetler 1-1; Leroy Simpson 1-0; Troy Dressler 7-(-2). Hughesville: Aiden Barlett 9-41; Kelby Gordner 6-17; Mason Hoppes 1-2; Joey Swink 6-0, TD; J.J. Gabel 2-(-1); Luke Kaiser 5-(-27).

PASSING — Mifflinburg: Dressler 13-24-2, 224 yards, 2 TDs. Hughesville: Kaiser 6-16-2, 37 yards; Swink 3-6-2, 65 yards, TD.

RECEIVING — Mifflinburg: Bingaman 4-72; Zack Wertman 4-70, TD; Cannon Griffith 3-20; Diehl 1-40, TD; Stetler 1-22. Hughesville: Tyler Fowler 4-68, TD; Swink 3-6; Brennan Hartman 0-13; Barlett 1-11; John Finnegan 1-4.