There was something so pure about this game, as if the adrenaline ride it took you on was crafted by the high school football gods. At times it took you out of your seat, flew you 60 mph in a split second and rocked you back, your hair frizzled and matted with a confusion that only came at the most exhilarating of moments.

When Mike Felton tiptoed down the left sideline with 7:35 left, holding in his hands South Western's District 3 playoff livelihood, he essentially sealed one of the most extraordinary games of 2009, capping his 76-yard interception return emphatically for the winning score in South Western's 41-34 District 3 Class AAAA first-round win Friday over Cedar Cliff at The Mustang Corral.

For a split second, Felton looked

South Western s Levi Sager (25) looks for room to run during Friday s District 3 Class AAAA playoff game against Cedar Cliff. The Mustangs were down by one point at halftime, then held the Colts scoreless in the fourth quarter to open the postseason with a 41-34 victory. South Western will face Penn Manor next. (Evening Sun - Meghan Gauriloff)
around, grasped the moment and drew his hands out wide as if to say "Are you a witness?"

"Everything felt like it was in slow motion," Felton said. "I saw the ball, got it and tried for my life trying to get that touchdown."

It's hard to think this game compared to any the Mustangs' 10 wins this year, considering Cedar Cliff, whoch hadn't beaten a team with a winning record this season, was dominating at times.

The Mustangs needed every last breath, every single play and every tackle to claim this hard-fought win over one of the grittiest performances by an opposing team this season.

"We were a second-half team and it's always been that way," said South Western linebacker Ryan Sexton, who had four tackles for losses Friday. "We knew we could come back. We pulled together and brought it back."

With the win, South Western (10-1) claimed a berth into the second round, in which it will host Penn Manor next Friday.

It gave head coach Don Seidenstricker his third double-digit winning season in this decade and was the first playoff win since 2006, when the Mustangs reached the Class AAA finals in Hershey.

"It means everything because we're back in quad-A," Seidenstricker said. "In '06 it was triple-A and I'm not taking anything away from that season, but quad-A is just a different atmosphere. We've done it both ways."

To understand just how remarkable this win is, look no further than the second quarter, when South Western perhaps was at its lowest.

After three straight scores, the Mustangs were stamping the game shut early.

But then the play happened.

Cedar Cliff boomed a 63-yard punt to South Western's 9 and to Kyle King. The senior running back mistakenly touched the ball, but didn't pounce on it, allowing the Colts to recover.

One player later, Dan Moore (18 carries for 99 yards) was in for a touchdown.

A three-and-out followed. Then another Cedar Cliff touchdown.

Then came another South Western turnover, this one turning into a four-play, 28-yard touchdown drive by the Colts.

Cedar Cliff, a massive underdog entering the game, went into half up, 20-19.

"They capitalized on our mistakes," Felton said.

The Colts followed with another touchdown out of break and off another South Western turnover early in the third quarter.

To understand just how remarkable this win was, look no further than the third quarter.

Trailing 27-19 with a little over five minutes remaining in the game, the Mustangs began in earnest its most crucial drive of the game.

Ian Smith, who went 11-for-17 for 115 yards, brushed aside his last possession --an interception -- and found Felton for a 9-yard completion for a first down. Two more completions to Kyle Mahorney and Levi Sager (16 carries, 108 yards) would follow before South Western found itself at the Colts' 20-yard line.

Felton had single coverage on the right flank and Smith connected with the sophomore, giving life back to the Mustangs at 27-all.

But one play later, Cedar Cliff drilled a hole right through the Mustangs' heart.

A trick play, in which quarterback Tyler Orris threw behind to Quinn Bower, ended up with an 80-yard touchdown catch by Andre Washington.

Orris was outstanding all night, miles ahead of the learning curve as a sophomore, and threw for 189 yards while running six times for 25 yards. With South Western biting, Bower threw a gem to Washington in stride down the right flank, giving Cedar Cliff a 34-27 edge.

Still, South Western fought back, driving 11 plays on their next possession and scored on a 2-yard run by J.R. Mummert to pull the score even. Mummert was a rock for 48 minutes and rushed 20 times for 100 times and three scores.

Felton broke the Colts in half, then, on the 10th play into their second-to-last drive of the game at the 34. He picked off Orris, who had two interceptions on the night, and ran through would-be tacklers, willing his way toward the goal line.

"This game was truly a great football game of momentum," Seidenstricker "Had we not did what we did in the second quarter, who knows what would have happened?"

cmull@eveningsun.com

 

Cedar Cliff    0  20  14    0 -- 34
South Western  13    6    8  14 -- 41

First Quarter
   SW -- J.R. Mummert 29 run (Ian Smith kick), 10:52
   SW -- Mummert 1 run (kick failed), 3:24
Second Quarter
   SW -- Levi Sager 26 run (run failed), 10:13
   CC -- Dan Moore 9 run (Moore run), 8:57
   CC -- Quinn Bower 41 pass from Tyler Orris (pass failed), 6:31
   CC -- Moore 3 run (kick failed)
Third Quarter
   CC -- Tate Moore-Jacobs 31 fumble return (Gabriel Barrera kick), 11:40
   SW -- Mike Felton 20 pass from Smith (Jimmy Nicklas pass from Smith), 1:50
   CC -- Andre Washington 80 pass from Q. Bower (Barrera kick), 1:38
Fourth Quarter
   SW -- Mummert 2 run (Smith kick), 10:00
   SW -- Felton 76 interception return (Smith kick), 7:35
 
-- CC -- SW
First downs -- 20 -- 17
Rushes-yards -- 29-143 -- 49-240
Passing -- 17-37-2 -- 11-17-1
Passing yards -- 269 -- 115
Total yards -- 412 -- 355
Punts -- 3-32.0 -- 3-32.0
Fumbles-lost -- 1-1 -- 3-3
Penalties-yards -- 6-55 -- 4-20

 
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
   Rushing -- Cedar Cliff, Dan Moore 18-99, Tyler Orris 6-25, A.D. Huff 5-19; South Western, Levi Sager 16-108, J.R. Mummert 20-100, Kyle King 7-24, Ian Smith 6-8.
   Passing -- Cedar Cliff, Tyler Orris 16-34-2-189, Quinn Bower 1-3-0-80; South Western, Ian Smith 11-17-1-115.
   Receiving -- Cedar Cliff, Andre Washington 6-103, Noel Abreu 6-88, Quinn Bower 2-55, Dan Moore 2-11, Blaine Bower 1-12; South Western, Mike Felton 3-36, Levi Sager 3-35, Kyle King 2-14, Jimmy Nicklas 2-12, Kyle Mahorney 1-18.