Gov. Mifflin loses to Pleasant Valley in Eastern Conference Class 5A/6A championship game in high school football
Nov. 4—It was a tale of two halves Friday night at Shillington.
Gov. Mifflin, which took a 19-point lead in the first half, gave up 21 second-half points in falling to Pleasant Valley 28-19 in the Eastern Conference Class 5A/6A championship game.
"Turnovers and penalties," Mustangs coach Jeff Lang said about the loss. "We've known it from the get-go. We preach it every day and it happens at practice. We do up-downs for it. Penalties and turnovers will beat us. ... We beat ourselves again."
The Mustangs (5-6) committed 10 penalties and turned it over three times.
None of that seemed as if it would be a problem at the start.
Gov. Mifflin scored on its third play after forcing a turnover on downs.
Javien Pletz threw a screen pass to Derek Dinatale, who went 40 yards for the touchdown to make it 6-0.
After forcing a Bears punt, Mifflin put together a 10-play, 85-yard drive to make it 12-0. This time Brandon Jones bounced a carry to the right side for a 7-yard score.
Six minutes later, Pletz hit a wide-open Nolan Morris for a 46-yard touchdown. Morris juked multiple defenders before crossing the goal line..
However, the Bears (6-5) were able to gain some momentum with their first positive series of the half.
Alexander Ecker ran for a 56-yard gain, then scored on a 4-yard run up the middle on the next play to cut it to 19-7 with 2:35 remaining in the half.
Pleasant Valley then controlled the second half.
"They took away our inside stuff," Lang said on what changed in the second half. "They did a nice job up front. "Hats off to No.30 (Ecker) and No.10 (Valentino Byers-Robinson), they were really good. We knew that coming in and they just got finally warmed up and got some confidence going."
After forcing a Mustangs punt on the first possession of the second half, the Bears drove 99 yards in 15 plays to get into the end zone again.
Byers-Robinson scored on a 41-yard quarterback keeper to cut the Bears' deficit to 19-14 heading into the fourth quarter.
Mifflin began to drive on their next series before Pletz fumbled at the Pleasant Valley 16 with 6:39 remaining.
On their fourth play, Byers-Robinson connected with Aaron Haden for a 49-yard completion down the middle.
One play later, Ecker broke multiple tackles for a 25-yard score. He then would convert a two-point conversion to give the Bears a 22-19 lead with 4:12 left.
On the Mustangs' third play of the ensuing drive, Pletz overthrew a deep out-route that was intercepted by Ecker, who returned it to Mifflin's 13-yard line.
Ecker, who finished with 178 yards and three TDs on 18 carries, then scored again on a 13-yard run.
It was a difficult way for Lang's seniors to finish their high school football careers.
"They've been a great bunch of kids," Lang said of his senior group. "They're been great leaders from the get-go. We've had some rough times last year, but they stepped up and really brought the younger kids up with them. It's a really nice team camaraderie-type thing now."
