Sentinel photo by CHUCK MEYERS Mifflin County’s Deakon Schaeffer carries the rock during a District 6 Class 6A semifinal game against Altoona earlier this fall.

LEWISTOWN — Mifflin County football scored itself 11 players on the Mid-Penn Conference Keystone Division all-stars under first-year head coach Shane Breon.

The lone first team selection on the offensive side of the ball is junior running back Deakon Schaeffer. A two-year starter on offense, Schaeffer compiled 189 carries for 1,053 yards and 10 touchdowns, including seven games when he went over a 100 yards rushing this season.

Schaeffer led the Keystone division in rushing yardage and was eighth in PIAA Class 6A. Schaeffer was a key factor in the passing game as well. He posted 17 receptions for 266 yards and four touchdowns.

“He’s a great competitor and very tough runner,” Breon said. “He can also catch out of the backfield and is a threat everytime he touches the football.”

The second first-team selection for the Huskies came on the defensive side of the ball in senior defensive back Brody Rishel. In 2022, Rishel had a total of 92 tackles, 52 assisted and 40 solo to go along with an interception and two fumble recoveries.

Rishel finishes his career at Mifflin County with 146 total tackles, 80 solo and 66 assisted. He also had an interception and three fumble recoveries.

“He’s sneaky fast and a very intelligent student of the game who is solid against the run and pass,” Breon said.

Senior middle linebacker Reagan Ettinger was selected to the second team on defense. Ettinger a two-year starter, had 125 total tackles, 74 solo and 51 assisted. Collected four sacks, a fumble recovery and 10 tackles for a loss. Ettinger led both Class 6A and the Keystone in total tackles.

Ettinger finishes his career at Mifflin County having the second most tackles in school history with 195 only behind Isaac Maclay who has 246. Ettinger also has five sacks, a fumble recovery, two forced fumbles, a blocked field goal and 19 tackles for a loss.

“He’s the heart and soul of the defense this year,” Breon said. “He’s an incredibly tough football player who has a non-stop motor.”

The next eight Mifflin County players were given honorable mentions. The first two being senior offensive linemen Elijah Osborne and Ryan Stahl who according to coach Breon were the unsung heroes for the offense. Both Osborne and Stahl were two year starters for the Huskies.

“They are two of our stronger guys who were key components to having a 1,000 yard rusher and a 1,600 yard passer this season,” Breon said.

Another honorable mention was quarterback Landen Eichhorn. The junior had a huge first season at the helm of the Mifflin County offense as Eichhorn set the Mifflin County single season passing record for both yardage and touchdowns, throwing for 1,601 yards and 17 touchdowns while completing over 50 percent of his passes.

“He’s very athletic and an intelligent quarterback who grew tremendously throughout the season,” Breon said.

Senior receiver Isaac Wilson was a two-year starter on both offense and defense for the Huskies. In 2022 Wilson had the record for the most receiving yards and receiving touchdowns in Mifflin County history with 652 yards and eight touchdowns which placed him second in the Keystone and tenth in PIAA 6A.

For his career, the senior leaves the Huskies as their all-time leader in receptions (74), receiving yards (1,186) and receiving touchdowns (12).

“He’s an incredible competitor with a non-stop motor who played both ways for us. True playmaker who catches everything thrown his direction,” Breon said. “He has a super vertical jumping ability and high points the football. He also has tremendous body control and balance and made several sideline catches for us this year and is very elusive in the open field as his kickoff return yardage shows.”

Next up is junior Parker Kearns who is a two year starter for the Huskies on both sides of the ball. In 2022, Kearns collected 22 receptions for 340 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, Kearns had 91 total tackles, 51 assisted, 40 solo with an interception.

“He’s a solid player always in the right position on defense and catches everything thrown to him on offense,” Breon said. “He made some incredible catches this season.”

Travis Renninger finishes his junior campaign with 48 total tackles with 24 solo and assisted and two sacks.

“He’s very tall, tough, fast, athletic defensive lineman who draws attention to the opposing offenses,” Breon said.

Josiah Sechler finishes his career at Mifflin County after a 2022 season where he had 27 punts for 862 yards for 31.9 average including three that landed inside the 20. Sechler also contributed to the offense as well including a huge 72 yard touchdown reception in the Huskies’ victory over the season.

For his career, Sechler had 74 punts for 2,400 yards averaging 32.4 and had 11 punts land inside the 20.

“He’s a very fast receiver who also had eight catches for 174 yards and two touchdowns,” Breon said. “His average catch went for 21.8 yards.”

The last Mifflin County player to be named was junior kicker Isaac Parks-Gill. In 2022, Gill had 40 kickoffs for 1,871, three touchbacks and was 24 of 28 on PATs and was 2-for-2 on field goals of 43 and 38 yards. The 43 yard field goal came during the District 6 semi-final playoff game against Altoona which is the longest in Mifflin County high school history.

“He’s a very accurate kicker who also doubles as a soccer player,” Breon said. “He works at his craft in the off-season and it has paid dividends for our program.”

With all of that success in his first season as the head coach going 6-5 overall, Breon was given the honor of being the Keystone division coach of the year, an award he gives credit to the kids.

“This is a team/program award that represents the hard work and dedication of our players and coaching staff as a whole,” Breon said. “It shows the respect the other coaches have for how we performed throughout this season. Our JV program went 7-2 which also may have played a role in us receiving this award. We are looking to build on the success we had this year.”