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Mifflin County prevails in dogfight

Turnovers plague Big Spring

Sentinel photo by MATT STRICKER Mifflin County’s Wyatt Henry (24) runs for yardage with Big Spring defender Noah Keiter (25) looking to make the stop Friday in Lewistown.

LEWISTOWN — Mifflin County celebrated its 21 football seniors in style Friday night at Mitchell Field, getting the best of Big Spring, 27-10, in the first Mid-Penn Colonial meeting between the two schools.

The Huskies dominated Big Spring defensively, with the big blow being the 73-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by Mifflin County’s Isaac Matthews. The Bulldogs turned the ball over four times in the game, as Big Spring quarterback Jaret Petty threw three interceptions, and fumbled once. The team also turned the ball over on downs three times.

Big Spring received the opening kickoff and picked up a first down before punting to the Huskies. Mifflin County took over at its own 13.

On the first play from scrimmage for Mifflin County, Aaron Smith broke off a 67-yard run to give the Huskies the ball at the Big Spring 20-yard line. Bryson Phillips capped off the drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Drew Williams to give Mifflin County a 7-0 lead.

The Huskies added to that lead on Matthews’ touchdown. The PAT was missed by Davis Wagner, giving Mifflin County a 13-0 lead with 2:44 left in the first quarter.

Mifflin County added a third touchdown, a six-yard rushing score by Williams that gave the Huskies a commanding 20-0 advantage over the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs rallied, however, adding a touchdown on the ensuing drive. Petty found wide receiver Nick Black in the end zone to cut into the Huskies lead, 20-7. Petty put together a strong scoring drive, throwing for 49 yards and rushing for 20 yards on the way to the end zone for Big Spring. Mifflin County led 20-7 at the half.

In the second half, Big Spring’s Noah Keiter connected on a 28-yard field goal to cut the Husky lead in half, 20-10.

The Bulldogs failed to find a rhythm after that. A holding penalty called back a Big Spring touchdown and turnovers plagued its comeback effort. The Bulldogs turned the ball over on downs twice in the second half, and an interception by Mifflin County’s Austin Haubrick sealed the win for Mifflin County.

“We finally completed a game,” Mifflin County coach Brent Hartman said. “This team beat up on West Perry when they played them and if we keep on going into next week we can win another one. It shows improvement.”

For Williams, it was a great night. He was 10-of-13 passing for 150 yards and a touchdown, while also adding two more scores on the ground. Williams built a strong connection with Isaac Maclay, completing four passes to Maclay for 90 yards.

Aaron Smith had his second consecutive 100-yard game for Mifflin County on the ground, running the ball 11 times for 102 yards.

“Williams and Maclay had a great game. Smith also had a great game running the ball,” Hartman said. “The line did a great job controlling the line of scrimmage. We had a lot of people make big plays and everyone played well tonight.”

With the win, Mifflin County improves to 3-6, 3-3 in the Colonial Division. The Huskies will wrap up their season Nov. 5 at Waynesboro.

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