Gov. Mifflin runs over Daniel Boone, stays unbeaten in Section 1
SHILLINGTON — Jan Johnson only needed to throw one complete pass in Governor Mifflin’s Friday night game against Daniel Boone to win 42-19.
All six of the Mustangs’ touchdowns came on the ground as Mifflin racked up 412 rushing yards on 48 carries, averaging more than 8 yards per touch to stay remain unbeaten in the Berks Football League Section 1 at 3-0 (6-1 overall).
“They ran that veer to perfection. They know exactly what they’re hitting,’ said Daniel Boone coach Bill Parks. “Jan Johnson does an incredible job, he’s a great football player. (Wilson) Fontanez, he’s a great runner, man. He’s as good as any I’ve seen here.’
Fontanez ran for 203 yards and four of the Mustangs’ touchdowns Friday, including one in which he took the ball for 34 yards to score.
“He’s crazy,’ Johnson said. “He’s running over kids in there. He’s getting hit every play, getting beat up, and he still finds a way to spring long runs with the quickness and stuff that he has.’
“We just saw the holes, made the holes, and I hit them,’ Fontanez said.
He credited his offensive line for his performance. Three of his touchdowns came near the goal line but on two he was virtually untouched.
“It was really our defense we struggled with tonight, trying to figure out how to match (Mifflin’s) intensity,’ Parks said. “They’re big and they fly. All those guys run hard, they’re blocking downfield. They do a great job.’
“We have an amazing offensive line,’ Fontanez said. “They work hard at every practice and I couldn’t ask for better holes than (what) they give me … they had a hell of a night tonight.’
Johnson feels he doesn’t need to worry when Fontanez lines up behind him.
“He’s a reliable back that you know you can hand the ball off to and (he’ll) run hard and get yards,’ Johnson said.
Johnson himself had a great night even while only completing his one pass for 12 yards. He scored the Mustangs’ other two touchdowns to go along with his 141 rushing yards.
Both his touchdowns came on option plays. One scoring rush was for 26 yards and the other was for 43.
The quarterback’s most impressive run of the night came when he took the ball on an option play from Mifflin’s own 43 to the Boone 19. Along the way, he dodged at least three tacklers and used a combination of cut-backs and stutter-steps to get downfield.
“Coach (Dominic Vecchio) normally doesn’t like that, he likes to run north-south,’ Johnson said with a sheepish smile. “I was just trying to follow my blockers and make a big play happen.’
Boone (2-2 Berks, 4-3 overall) amassed 289 total yards of offense on the way to three touchdowns, although two of those scores came in the fourth quarter against Mifflin’s second string.
Quarterback Nick Hughes threw for 141 yards and a touchdown. Several times in the first half, he hit wide-open receivers on the hands but the ball was dropped. The game might have been a touchdown or two closer than the 28-6 it was at halftime.
“My kids battled hard. We made mistakes,’ Parks said. “We had a tough week of practices with sicknesses and injuries. And that stuff shows on the field.’
A big injury the Blazers dealt with was starting center Jared Gaspari. Wearing a back and neck brace with his jersey underneath on the sidelines after being injured in last week’s game against Reading, Gaspari was very vocal throughout the game.
“He’s not only our center, he is the heart and soul of our offense,’ Parks said. “He’s just a great kid.’
Parks said Gaspari’s absence played a role “to an extent’ in the offense’s difficulties in sustaining drives Friday night.
Mostly, Parks felt consistency was the problem. He said they’ll work on that in practice ahead of next week’s game at Pottsville.
“We were out there last year and we had a really bad night so these guys are looking for some payback for that,’ Parks said. “They want to avenge that loss that basically kept us out of the playoffs.’
Both Fontanez and Johnson felt Friday night’s dominant win was a statement.
“It feels great. Boone was really hyped up and coming off a big win,’ Johnson said. “We just wanted to come out here, senior night, and show everyone in the county that we mean business and we’re going to get things done.’
