A new era of football will begin this fall at Gov. Mifflin.
Nick Morrissey, an assistant for nine years, takes over in Shillington as he intends to bring back old-school Mustangs football.
“I would say we’re going back to the way we did things even before,” Morrissey said. “We’re going to bring back running the football, very simple passing schemes that the kids know. Understand what they’re doing and we’re going to be efficient when we throw the ball. Then just the ‘grind it out’ Mifflin style of football, line up and take our offensive line and put it against anybody and see where the chips fall.”
Previously, head coach Jeff Lang spent the last seven seasons in charge at Shillington before resigning after a second consecutive losing season.
Morrissey, 39, who spent the last two seasons as the defensive coordinator, is very optimistic the Mustangs are rejoin the top tier of Berks County football schools.
“We have to win, the expectation that Gov. Mifflin has is to be a champion,” Morrissey said. “We won 15 league titles in 20 years, beat some of the best teams in the state throughout that run and that’s going to be the expectation. That’s where this program is going to go. Losing seasons do happen every once in a while but when we look at that, it’s just a bump in the road. It’s time to get back to doing the things that our community expects.”
The Mustangs are coming off another down year after losing the Eastern Conference Class 5A/6A championship to put them under .500 for the season. In a game in which they led 19-0 in the second quarter, Pleasant Valley stormed back to win 28-19.
The Mustangs can get their revenge in week one of the season as they’ll take on the Bears at home on Aug. 23.
“First goal is definitely to beat Pleasant Valley because we lost to them in that championship game,” senior quarterback Javien Pletz said. “So, we want to beat them first. We have to win the first game of the year, and we just want to keep winning week by week. Then get into playoffs and hopefully make it far.”
The Mustangs will be led by a strong senior class that includes previous leading rusher Grady Gardner, All-Berks selection Reese Hohl, and Pletz.
“One, they need to take care of the football,” Morrissey said of his senior skill players. “We can’t turn the ball over and in our triple option system, we have got to be fundamentally sound. Then number two, we have to be unselfish and make the right decisions. You know, whether it’s Grady (Gardner) getting the ball whether it’s Javien (Pletz) keeping it, or Reese (Hohl) getting the ball out and about. They have to know whatever a team is going to give us is what they got to take and they have to be team players.”
In Mifflin’s triple-option offense, Gardner led the team with 433 yards and six touchdowns on 68 carries. Hohl finished with 184 receiving yards and four total touchdowns. Pletz completed 40 percent of his throws for 432 yards, five touchdowns, and five interceptions.
All three seniors are looking to have their best season individually and as a team in 2024. They talked about how Morrissey could get them back in the right direction.
“I would say that the atmosphere is different around practice, honestly kind of like it,” Hohl said. “It’s a little more amped up, I feel like seemed like everyone’s a little more into it and wants to be a better team this year than we were last year.”
“The group of guys that we have this year is definitely much closer than last year,” Gardner said. “I think that Coach Morrissey has brought us closer because he preaches being a team and being a family.”
As for Morrissey, he thinks his kids transitioned well from Lang to himself.
“Phenomenal. I’ve been super tight with these groups of kids,” Morrissey said. “I coached them all when they were in seventh and eighth grade for basketball. I know all their parents well and they’re my guys. They kind of knew this transition was going to happen for the last couple of years. Our senior class has been really good. They’ve been working really hard. It’s been a very consistent approach from January through the summer. Coach Lang had been preparing me for this transition. So, everyone around me and my Mifflin family has made this very seamless.”
The Mustangs are anxious to get the season rolling under the Friday night lights.
“Can’t wait,” Morrissey said of getting the season started. “As a new head coach, a lot of it’s not football-related stuff. It’s politics, getting the job, the interview process. I’m ready to finally coach football. So, it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty and worry about the real stuff.”
“I want to see our team come together when it’s hard. So we’re not like picking each other apart and going down on ourselves. ” Pletz said of what he wants to see out of his team this season. “Instead, picking each other up and saying ‘It’s alright, we got it, next play.’ Move on from that and just keep doing better and better every time.”
A look at the Mustangs
Coach: Nick Morrissey, first season, 0-0.
Last year: 3-3 Lancaster-Lebanon Section 2, 5-6.
PIAA classification: 6A.
Schedule: Aug. 23, Pleasant Valley; Sept. 30, at Perkiomen Valley; Sept. 6, at Hempfield; Sept. 13, Exeter; Sept. 20, at Muhlenberg; Sept. 27, Wilson; Oct. 4, at Conestoga Valley; Oct. 11, Lebanon; Oct. 18, Elizabethtown; Oct. 25, at Ephrata.
Source: Berkshire mont