MIFFLINBURG – Wildcat sophomore quarterback Troy Dressler posted an impressive first half Friday night, as his team earned a home victory against the visiting Shikellamy Braves. Dressler completed 11 of 20 passing attempts for 172 yards in the opening half of the game and broke a school record doing so as the home Wildcats earned a 43-14 victory over the visiting Shikellamy Braves.
Dressler completed a 32-yard pass to Carter Breed in the second quarter of the game that gave the young sophomore the Mifflinburg school record for most passing yards in a single season, breaking a school record that had previously stood for over 20 years. In nine games this season, Dressler has amassed over 1700 passing yards.
Head coach and father Jason Dressler had great things to say about his son’s performance this season.
“As a coach and as a father I’m very proud of him,” he said, “When I said after last season about him switching his jersey number and coming off the line he was selfless. He said, ‘Whatever the team needs, I’ll do.’ He’s been an absolute sponge. He’s soaked up all the information the coaching staff has given him, and he’s been working a lot with his receivers. Being surrounded by a great group of young backs and receivers has helped him too. They all feed off each other.”
Troy Dressler himself was more focused on the task at hand – beating Shikellamy – than basking in the glory of breaking a school record.
“It feels great, but there’s nothing better than a team win,” he said, “When they announced that I had broken the record, I wasn’t even paying attention. I was getting the next play and focusing on scoring a touchdown right there.”
Dressler and the Wildcats did take care of business in the game, scoring early and often in a 43-14 win. Those scoring opportunities were set up by the defense, however, as the Wildcats earned a pair of first-quarter turnovers which they turned into 14 points.
“Those two turnovers just don’t give them a chance to breathe after we turn around and score,” said Coach Dressler of his team’s defense. “Starting out fast like that is fun. It’s funs to see.”
The Wildcats scored on the opening drive of the football game, piecing together a methodical 15-play drive that covered 73 yards and took nearly seven minutes off the clock to open the game. Gabe Stetler finished the drive, plunging into the endzone from two yards away on a third-and-goal rushing attempt to give the home team a 7-0 advantage.
Shikellamy took the field and immediately handed the ball back over to the Wildcats. On the Braves’ first play from scrimmage, a botched handoff attempt resulted in the football ending up on the turf where it was recovered by Mifflinburg.
On the ensuing play, Dressler took a deep shot at the endzone and found junior Andrew Diehl for an immediate 31-yard score. A bad snap resulted in Diehl running in a two-point conversion on the point after try, giving Mifflinburg a 15-0 advantage.
Once again the Wildcats’ defense forced a clutch turnover. Just five plays into a Shikellamy drive, the ball was jarred loose again, resulting in a turnover. Mifflinburg took over again in Shikellamy territory and again marched down the field for a score. Dressler tossed his second touchdown pass of the night on the drive, connecting with Jacob Bingaman for an 18-yard score.
The 23-0 hole that Shikellamy found itself in due to turnovers would turn out to be insurmountable.
“We started off with two fumbles, gave them the ball in great field position, and they get two quick scores,” said Shikellamy coach Jim Keiser. “That’s the story of our season. Mistakes killed us, we had a couple of blown coverages, but overall, our kids played well and competed. I’m proud of them.”
The Wildcats tacked on another touchdown in the opening half as Dressler connected with Diehl yet again for a 27-yard score. The touchdown pass was Dressler’s third of the night and Diehl’s second receiving.
Diehl was not done scoring, however, as the junior tacked on a rushing touchdown in the second half to put the mercy rule into effect. Diehl broke free on a 42-yard score to put the Wildcats up 36-0. Diehl led Mifflinburg in both rushing and receiving on the night, running the ball five times for 68 yards and a score, while hauling in 64 yards worth of receptions on three catches that resulted in a pair of touchdowns.
Shikellamy broke through in the closing moments of the third quarter. Aided by four defensive penalties by the Wildcats defense, the Braves drove the ball 78 yards on 11 plays to find pay dirt for the first time in the game. On a fourth-and-goal at the eight-yard line, Braves’ quarterback Brayden Wertman dropped back, rolled left, and found Gage Wolfe out of the backfield for a receiving touchdown.
Both teams scored once more in the fourth quarter with Leroy Simpson scoring a rushing touchdown for the Wildcats and Kurtis Raker scoring a rushing touchdown for the Braves.
Coltyn Sempko finished the game as the leading rusher for the Braves. Sempko handled a team-high 17 carries for 63 yards but did not find the endzone. Along with his eight-yard receiving score, Wolfe also toted the ball seven times for 38 yards on the ground.
Shikellamy (1-8) closes the season this coming Friday when the team takes on Milton (5-4) at home.
“We’ve got to fix ourselves,” said Keiser of his team’s upcoming matchup. “If we can stop making stupid mistakes I think we can be an alright football team. Right now, we’re just making too many mistakes.”
Mifflinburg (6-3) looks forward to its perennial regular-season matchup with cross-county rival Lewisburg (4-3) coming up this Friday. Both teams will enter with playoff-seeding implications on the line.
“It’s going to be exciting,” said Coach Dressler of the upcoming rivalry game. “It’s going to be a really good 48-minute battle. It’s going to be a fun one. I’m excited.”
“It’s a big rivalry, we have to be focused,” added Troy Dressler. “We need to stay disciplined, do what we need to do, and bring it to ‘em.”
The “Little Brown Jug” game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Lewisburg.
Mifflinburg 43, Shikellamy 14
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Shikellamy 0 0 7 7 – 14
Mifflinburg 15 15 6 7 — 43
First Quarter
M—Gabriel Stetler 2-yard run (Stetler PAT Good), 5:02.
M—Andrew Diehl 31-yard reception from Troy Dressler (Diehl run), 4:38
Second Quarter
M—Jacob Bingaman 18-yard reception from Dressler (Mason Smith from Diehl), 11:52.
M—Diehl 27-yard reception from Dressler (Stetler PAT Good), 4:11
Third Quarter
M—Diehl 42-yard run (PAT No Good), 8:09.
S—Gage Wolfe 8-yard reception from Braydon Wertman (Nicholas Koontz PAT Good), 0:32
Fourth Quarter
M—Leroy Simpson 2-yard run (Stetler PAT Good), 5:24.
S—Kurtis Raker 4-yard run (Koontz PAT Good), 0:45
TEAM STATISTICS S M
First downs 13 13
Total yards 193 339
Rushes-yards 37-130 27-141
Yards passing 63 198
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 5-6-0 12-21-1
Fumbles-lost 3-2 1-0
Penalties-yards 3-22 5-45
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Shikellamy: Coltyn Sempko 17-63, Wolfe 7-38, Isaac Shaffer-Neitz 7-26, Wertman 2-3, Raker 2-1 TD, TEAM 2-(-1). Mifflinburg: Diehl 5-68 TD, Aaron Hackenburg 4-28, Carter Breed 4-26, Simpson 6-16 TD, Stetler 3-8 TD, Dressler 2-6, Ben Reitz 1-0, TEAM 2-(-1).
PASSING—Shikellamy: Wertman 5-6 63 yards TD. Mifflinburg: Dressler 11-20 172 yards 3TD, Reitz 1-1 26 yards.
RECEIVING—Shikellamy: John Peiffer 2-28, Kaden Hoffman 2-27, Wolfe 1-8 TD. Mifflinburg: Diehl 3-64 2TD, Breed 3-62, Bingaman 4-41 TD, Stetler 2-31.
