BEAVER SPRINGS – For two drives to begin the game Friday night it looked like the Midd-West Mustangs might have their hands full with visiting Shenandoah Valley.
Any hope for the Blue Devils quickly faded as Midd-West scored on five straight offensive possessions and even scored with the defense on the field as the home team rolled to a 54-6 blowout Friday night.
Shenandoah Valley won the coin toss and chose to receive. The Blue Devils promptly put together a nice drive with quarterback Joseph ‘Junebug’ Karvois completing his first four passes of the game. Unfortunately for the visitors, the drive came to a halt shortly after crossing into Midd-West territory forcing a punt.
The Blue Devil’s defense came out just as strong on the opening drive, holding the Midd-West offense to just four yards on three plays and gaining possession right back.
From that point forward it was all Mustangs, as the team forced a Shenandoah Valley three-and-out thanks in part to a Ben Umstead sack that pushed the Blue Devils back deeper into their own territory.
Just two offensive snaps later, the Mustangs were literally off and running as Hunter Wolfley galloped 85 yards for the game’s opening touchdown. Wolfley would score two more touchdowns on the night – One more on the ground and one through the air.
“It was all our line,” Wolfley said of his team’s success on the ground. “We challenged ourselves to try to get 200 rushing yards this week and our line stepped it up a little bit.”
The Mustangs finished with 210 yards on the ground.
After a missed PAT, the Mustangs held a 6-0 lead and Shenandoah Valley went back to its areal attack. Unfortunately for the visitors, this resulted in an interception by Gabe Register that was taken back to the house for another Mustang score.
With a modest 12-0 lead entering the second quarter, the Mustangs really found their offensive groove.
Trey Lauver was the next to score as he took an inside veer 45 yards for a score. This was the first of two touchdowns on the ground for Lauver in the game.
As the Mustangs’ lead increased, the team was able to take a 41-0 lead into the halftime break which put the mercy rule into effect right at the start of the second half.
After a scoreless third quarter, Shenandoah Valley was able to drive for its lone score of the game. Junebug Karvois put together another drive with four completions, this one ending in a seven-yard touchdown to senior wideout Joey Alshefski.
Alshefski may have scored the lone Blue Devil touchdown and finished the night with five catches for 26 yards and a score, but it was the other senior receiver for the Blue Devils that led all players in the game in receiving. Senior Alex Donchak put up an outstanding line of seven catches for 102 yards despite not finding the endzone.
“We wanted that shutout, but we gave that up late,” said Midd-West coach Brad Hatter following the blowout. “But offensively we preformed well. They went in and took care of business.”
On Midd-West’s next possession following the Blue Devils’ touchdown, a special moment happened when junior TJ Straub – a player on the Midd-West team with special needs – ran 20-yards untouched into the endzone.
“We were hoping to be able to do something like that,” said Hatter. “(TJ) has been with us since day one. He’s been working hard, doing the conditioning and all that stuff, so we as a staff wanted to find a good time to get him in the game. Credit to Shenandoah Valley for working with us on it and making it a special night for him.”
Midd-West scored a pair of touchdowns in the final five minutes to walk away with a 54-6 victory.
“We played well tonight,” said Hatter. “You never know how you’re going to respond in games like this. It’s easy to overlook a team like this. In that first drive they had a few plays against us in the passing game, but we made adjustments and played solid football after that.”
The Mustangs improved to 2-2 on the season and will host Jim Thorpe (4-0). The Olympians are coming off of a 76-0 shutout of Kutztown.
Shenandoah Valley fell to 0-4 on the season and will take on Nativity BVMat 7 p.m. Friday in Pottsville.
Midd-West 54, Shenandoah Valley 6
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Shenandoah Valley0 0 0 6 — 6
Midd-West12 29 0 13 — 54
First Quarter
MW—Hunter Wolfley 85-yard run (PAT No Good), 4:07.
MW—Gabe Regester 48-yard interception return (PAT No Good), 2:12.
Second Quarter
MW—Trey Lauver 45-yard run (2 pt. Converstion Good; Wolfley run), 10:20.
MW—Lauver 2-yard run (2 pt. Conversion No Good), 4:38.
MW—Wolfley 53-yard run (2 pt. Conversion Good; Lauver run), 1:42
MW—Wolfley 30-yard reception from Oakley Bennett (Ethan Schlief PAT Good)
Fourth Quarter
SV—Joey Alshefski 7-yard reception from Joseph Karvois (PAT No Good), 10:18.
MW—Schlief 20-yard run (Schlief PAT Good), 5:43
MW—Isaac Hummel 6-yard reception from Christian Register (PAT No Good), 0:52
TEAM STATISTICSSVMW
First downs75
Total yards108344
Rushes-yards28-(-20)20-210
Yards passing128134
Passing (comp.-att.-int.)12-22-17-12-0
Punts-avg.5-322-34
Fumbles-lost3-03-1
Penalties-yards4-302-20
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Midd-West: Wolfley 5-147 2TD, Lauver 4-53 2TD, Schlief 3-20 TD, Joe Rodriguez 2-14, Bennett 1-2, Josh Kline 2-2; Elijah Swan 1(-5); C. Register 1(-7); TEAM 1-(-16). Shenandoah Valley: Tyler Harris 5-6, Brian Dunne 7-2, Alshefski 1-1, Karvois 10-(-22), TEAM 5-(-7).
PASSING—Midd-West: Bennett 2-6 58 yds, TD; C. Regester 5-6 76 yds, TD. Shenandoah Valley: Karvois 12-22 128 yds, TD, INT.
RECEIVING—Midd-West: Corey Reinard 3-39, Everest Wilson 1-31, Wolfley 1-30-TD, G. Register 1-28, Hummel 1-6-TD. Shenandoah Valley: Alex Donchak 7-102, Alshefski 5-26-TD.
