Photos by Kathy Reed
By Kenny Varner

LEWISTOWN – They brought the heat!

In game two of the season, the MIfflin County defense once again played a big part as it failed to allow a point in a game en route to a 14-0 shut out against Northern York in Friday night football action at the Kish Bank Field at Donald M. Chapman lll Stadium.

Last week, the Huskies took care of Central Mountain 42-0.

The Huskies defense once again finished the day with multiple quarterback sacks as well as forcing four turnovers in the victory.

“Our offense was a little sluggish tonight but our defense hung in there especially in the red zone these kids don’t quit ,” said Mifflin County coach Shane Breon. “They you don’t get scored on unless they cross the goal line. So they made some plays there. Some great great plays and we hung tough.”

Twice the Polar Bears were knocking on the door and twice the Huskies came out with a key turnover.

In the first quarter, Northern York started with the ball to start things off.

Both team’s exchanged punts after short drives.

On their second possession of the game, the Polar Bears started a drive downfield that would put them on a 9-play drive that had them with a first down at the Huskies 27.

With their backs to the wall, the Huskies defense made its first strong statement when Reese Christine stepped in front of a Northern York receiver and sailed down the field on an interception.

When Christine was finally brought down, the Huskies had a first down on the 48.

The Polar Bears also had a very tough defensive effort on the evening as they forced Mifflin County into a second punt.

The Polar Bear offense picked up where it left off before the turnover, marching down the field on a 17-play drive that saw Mifflin County facing a second and goal from the sixth.

Northern York once again went to the air and once again the ball was intercepted.

This time it was Lucas Hartung that ended the Polar Bear drive and kept them off the scoreboard.

With their backs sudden momentum shift, the Huskies offense started to heat up as they started the drive on their 20. MIfflin County had a solid mix of passes and runs, keeping the Polar Bears off guard.

Along with moving the ball downfield, MIfflin County was running off precious time off the clock as they ran the two minute drill to perfection.

Facing a second down on the 13, Chase Hartung hit brother Lucas Hartung on a 13-yard TD reception with just 28 ticks left until the intermission. With their backs sudden Joel Beamer extra point the Huskies were on the board.

Despite being just 28 seconds, the MIfflin County defense dialed it up a notch and forced a fumble this time. Jaren Kenny came up with the ball in Polar Bear territory with only 17 seconds left.

One first down, Hartung found Jaxon Strohecker out of the backfield for a seven yard reception.

The Huskies called a time out, stopping the clock with less than 10 seconds left.

As the buzzer sounded to end the first half, Hartung launched a pass that came down in the hands of a leaping Easton Zook for the touchdown. With yet another perfect PAT, the Huskies ended the first half scoring leading 14-0.

In the second half, that would be all the Huskies would need as they relied on their defense to finish things as the tenacious defense once again forced three second half sacks and another fumble recovery by Jayden Smith in the final turnover of the game, helping the Huskies to move up to 2-0 with the 14-0 victory.

Offensively, Hartung went 15-for-19 for 139 yards in the win.

On the ground, Jaxon Strohecker rushed for 45 yards on 13 carries.