Mustangs Off And Running, Win Season Opener
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
If their idea was to send a message to the rest of the Interstate Football League, consider it done.
Consider it signed, sealed and delivered - the Kosciusko County Mustangs have arrived.
Stamped with a three-sack performance from Joe Sittler, an 84-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by speedster Jon Hill and an interception by Andy Crisp on the second play of the game, the Mustangs opened their inaugural season Saturday afternoon with a 27-8 thrashing of the Hendricks County Generals at Fisher Field.
"Everybody on this team has worked hard," said Sittler. "There's a lot of dedication on this team, and today it showed. It was just great to come out and play and hit somebody other than ourselves."
Sittler and a number of his Mustangs teammates played their high school football at Fisher Field for Warsaw - some for Ted Huber and Bob Montel, some for Phil Jensen - and Saturday afternoon they offered both a look into the past and future.
Wearing orange and blue uniforms, the Mustangs' defense left the Generals black and blue, setting the tone with a stuff at the line of scrimmage on the first play of the game and then with Crisp's interception of a pass from quarterback Jeremiah Crouch on the second play.
All totaled, the Mustangs' defense sacked Crouch four times, a big reason the Generals' running game accumulated negative 19 yards on 15 carries.
Dustin McClone had a sack in the second quarter for the Mustangs, while teammate Tyler Anglin recovered a fumble on the Hendricks County 4-yard line, setting up a one-play drive that saw bruising running back Ron Rodriguez power his way through the defense and into the end zone for a 13-0 lead at the half.
"They were ready to hit somebody from the time they blew the whistle, they were hungry," said defensive coordinator Dave Sisk. "We heard a bunch of stuff about how this was our first game and how they've been playing for three years. There was stuff on the Internet that said they were supposed to score 30 points on us, they scored eight. We've got a good, solid defense."
A defense that at times seemed camped out in the Generals' backfield. A defense that for most of the game also kept Hendricks County's passing game in check.
Crouch finished the game 13 of 32 through the air for 186 yards, 89 of which came in the fourth quarter when the outcome was all but decided.
While Crouch struggled, Mustangs quarterback Mike Whitaker came out firing.
Taking over after Crisp's interception, the Mustangs were called for an illegal procedure but marched down the field with an effective passing game.
The 6-foot-6, 240-pound Whitaker completed all four of his passes during the Mustangs' opening drive, racking up 50 yards through the air and capping off the drive with a 5-yard pass to high school classmate Damien Richardson.
"It wasn't even supposed to be a pass to me," said Richardson, whose brother, Derrick, started at defensive back, and whose father, Steve, is the head coach. "Mike was trying to throw it away and I jumped up and caught it. There's nothing like this feeling, putting the pads back on and getting back on this field. This is about as good as it gets."
Richardson finished the game with four receptions for 27 yards. Nick Bolesky, also a former Warsaw receiver, but not one that Whitaker played with, led the Mustangs with four catches for 63 yards, including one where he went up and stole the ball in mid-air from Hendricks County's Justin Campbell.
Bolesky's final reception of the game came in the fourth quarter, a 4-yard touchdown catch that gave the Mustangs a 27-8 lead after kicker Tom Martinez made good on the extra-point attempt.
In all, six Mustangs caught passes from Whitaker Saturday.
Billy West had two catches for 44 yards, and just missed a third when he laid out in the end zone for a pass that went off his fingertips. Hill had two receptions for 30 yards, while Sherlock Harrison Jr. and Rodriguez had one catch each.
Whitaker wasn't as accurate in the second, and was picked off three times in the game, but finished with 172 passing yards and two touchdowns on a 14-of-27 effort. He was 10 of 15 for 122 yards in the first half.
"We've been working since November," said Whitaker. "Most of these guys played together in high school, so the chemistry is definitely there. We made some mistakes, and we'll have to work on that in practice, but we've got a good group of receivers. And that wouldn't be possible without the five guys up front. I had good protection today."
While Hendricks County's offensive line gave up a quartet of sacks, Whitaker was sacked just once.
After Richardson's touchdown catch and Rodriguez's touchdown run, the Generals scored their only points in the game when Crouch scampered in from five yards out in the fourth quarter. After a penalty on the Mustangs, Crouch ran in the two-point conversion, cutting the deficit to 13-8.
Seconds later, the Mustangs were in full stride again, this time as Hill looked like a thoroughbred and outran the Generals for an 84-yard touchdown run on the ensuing kickoff.
"That felt awesome," Hill said of his kickoff return. "I had good blockers in front of me. I saw the last guy, ran right and then juked and he fell down."
Hill finished the game with six carries for 35 yards, while Rodriguez pounded out 35 yards on 10 carries.
Warsaw Mayor Ernie Wiggins was on hand at Saturday's game and was part of the official coin toss.
Playing their inaugural game, the Mustangs drew a good-sized crowd of interested fans, some of whom wore shirts or displayed posters with players' names and/or numbers on them.
"The hometown support was awesome," said Sittler. "We want even more people to come next time. We're gonna build something that will be around for years to come, and we want people here to be proud of it."
The Mustangs are in action Saturday at Fort Recovery, Ohio, against the Mercer County Cougars. The Mustangs' next home game is Aug. 7 at 4:30 p.m. against the Darke County Warriors. [[In-content Ad]]
If their idea was to send a message to the rest of the Interstate Football League, consider it done.
Consider it signed, sealed and delivered - the Kosciusko County Mustangs have arrived.
Stamped with a three-sack performance from Joe Sittler, an 84-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by speedster Jon Hill and an interception by Andy Crisp on the second play of the game, the Mustangs opened their inaugural season Saturday afternoon with a 27-8 thrashing of the Hendricks County Generals at Fisher Field.
"Everybody on this team has worked hard," said Sittler. "There's a lot of dedication on this team, and today it showed. It was just great to come out and play and hit somebody other than ourselves."
Sittler and a number of his Mustangs teammates played their high school football at Fisher Field for Warsaw - some for Ted Huber and Bob Montel, some for Phil Jensen - and Saturday afternoon they offered both a look into the past and future.
Wearing orange and blue uniforms, the Mustangs' defense left the Generals black and blue, setting the tone with a stuff at the line of scrimmage on the first play of the game and then with Crisp's interception of a pass from quarterback Jeremiah Crouch on the second play.
All totaled, the Mustangs' defense sacked Crouch four times, a big reason the Generals' running game accumulated negative 19 yards on 15 carries.
Dustin McClone had a sack in the second quarter for the Mustangs, while teammate Tyler Anglin recovered a fumble on the Hendricks County 4-yard line, setting up a one-play drive that saw bruising running back Ron Rodriguez power his way through the defense and into the end zone for a 13-0 lead at the half.
"They were ready to hit somebody from the time they blew the whistle, they were hungry," said defensive coordinator Dave Sisk. "We heard a bunch of stuff about how this was our first game and how they've been playing for three years. There was stuff on the Internet that said they were supposed to score 30 points on us, they scored eight. We've got a good, solid defense."
A defense that at times seemed camped out in the Generals' backfield. A defense that for most of the game also kept Hendricks County's passing game in check.
Crouch finished the game 13 of 32 through the air for 186 yards, 89 of which came in the fourth quarter when the outcome was all but decided.
While Crouch struggled, Mustangs quarterback Mike Whitaker came out firing.
Taking over after Crisp's interception, the Mustangs were called for an illegal procedure but marched down the field with an effective passing game.
The 6-foot-6, 240-pound Whitaker completed all four of his passes during the Mustangs' opening drive, racking up 50 yards through the air and capping off the drive with a 5-yard pass to high school classmate Damien Richardson.
"It wasn't even supposed to be a pass to me," said Richardson, whose brother, Derrick, started at defensive back, and whose father, Steve, is the head coach. "Mike was trying to throw it away and I jumped up and caught it. There's nothing like this feeling, putting the pads back on and getting back on this field. This is about as good as it gets."
Richardson finished the game with four receptions for 27 yards. Nick Bolesky, also a former Warsaw receiver, but not one that Whitaker played with, led the Mustangs with four catches for 63 yards, including one where he went up and stole the ball in mid-air from Hendricks County's Justin Campbell.
Bolesky's final reception of the game came in the fourth quarter, a 4-yard touchdown catch that gave the Mustangs a 27-8 lead after kicker Tom Martinez made good on the extra-point attempt.
In all, six Mustangs caught passes from Whitaker Saturday.
Billy West had two catches for 44 yards, and just missed a third when he laid out in the end zone for a pass that went off his fingertips. Hill had two receptions for 30 yards, while Sherlock Harrison Jr. and Rodriguez had one catch each.
Whitaker wasn't as accurate in the second, and was picked off three times in the game, but finished with 172 passing yards and two touchdowns on a 14-of-27 effort. He was 10 of 15 for 122 yards in the first half.
"We've been working since November," said Whitaker. "Most of these guys played together in high school, so the chemistry is definitely there. We made some mistakes, and we'll have to work on that in practice, but we've got a good group of receivers. And that wouldn't be possible without the five guys up front. I had good protection today."
While Hendricks County's offensive line gave up a quartet of sacks, Whitaker was sacked just once.
After Richardson's touchdown catch and Rodriguez's touchdown run, the Generals scored their only points in the game when Crouch scampered in from five yards out in the fourth quarter. After a penalty on the Mustangs, Crouch ran in the two-point conversion, cutting the deficit to 13-8.
Seconds later, the Mustangs were in full stride again, this time as Hill looked like a thoroughbred and outran the Generals for an 84-yard touchdown run on the ensuing kickoff.
"That felt awesome," Hill said of his kickoff return. "I had good blockers in front of me. I saw the last guy, ran right and then juked and he fell down."
Hill finished the game with six carries for 35 yards, while Rodriguez pounded out 35 yards on 10 carries.
Warsaw Mayor Ernie Wiggins was on hand at Saturday's game and was part of the official coin toss.
Playing their inaugural game, the Mustangs drew a good-sized crowd of interested fans, some of whom wore shirts or displayed posters with players' names and/or numbers on them.
"The hometown support was awesome," said Sittler. "We want even more people to come next time. We're gonna build something that will be around for years to come, and we want people here to be proud of it."
The Mustangs are in action Saturday at Fort Recovery, Ohio, against the Mercer County Cougars. The Mustangs' next home game is Aug. 7 at 4:30 p.m. against the Darke County Warriors. [[In-content Ad]]