Governor Mifflin downs Weiser to win Section 1 title

Thanks in part to a 74 yard run, and a couple of 40-plus touchdown passes, the Governor Mifflin High School football team was able to defeat Conrad Weiser Nov. 2, 56-30, to capture the Section 1 championship with a perfect 7-0 record.

“We are very happy and excited about the section championship,” said Governor Mifflin Head Coach Mik Vecchio. “The kids really improved from week to week this season. We had a lot of new kids on this team and they worked hard to improve each week and that’s all a coach wants from his players.”

The Mustang offense exploted for 56 points against Weiser, piling up 434 total yards in the game. The game was close at halftime, Mifflin holding a slim 28-24 lead.

Conrad Weiser got the second half kick-off but a fumble gave the Mustangs an opportunity. They took advantage of that opportunity with a 46 yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback to Ronald Dunakelberger.

“That was the turning point in the game,” said Vecchio. “That really gave us the momentum and we took off after that.”

There certainly did take off. They scored three more touchdowns in the second half and put the game well out of reach.

Ryan Barbon got the game off on the right foot when he broke a 74 yard touchdown run to make it 7-0 Mustangs. He finished the night with 131 yards rushing in 13 carries. He now has 993 rushing yards this season and will most likely breach the 1,000 yard milestone this week in the opening round of the District 1 playoffs.

“We had a lot of things go right in the game,” said Coach Vecchio. “We had a couple of long passes that really worked out well for us.”

The Johnson to Dunkelberger connection was one of those passes. The other was a 49 yard touchdown pass from Johnson to Salvatore DelVecchio late in the first half.

Johnson helped his own cause by rushing for 119 yards and passing for 117.

The fifth-seeded Mustangs will be able to host a District 3-AAAA game on Friday, Nov. 9, when they play South Western, the 12th seed of the tournament. The game will get underway at 7 p.m.

“These district games are sometimes decided by who wants it the most, “said Coach Vecchio. “We’ve just got to keep on improving to win in the district tournament.”