WEST WINFIELD, N.Y. (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) –

Mount Markham Mustangs

Head Coach: Loren Winegard

Last Year’s Record: 7-3. The difference between the Mustangs getting a top seed in last year’s Class D playoffs and where they ended up came down to approximately one play: Dolgeville’s Jared Bilinski tearing down the sidelines for a 62-yard touchdown on the first offensive play in Week Seven. Otherwise, Mount Markham was one of the power teams in Class D East, their only other blemish coming in a two-point loss to Little Falls. Instead, that 6-0 loss dropped them down to the number-five seed, where they traveled west to Sandy Creek before they had their rematch with the Blue Devils. Dolgeville would hold them to their second-lowest point total in the semi-finals, only allowing eight to the Mustangs before eliminating them from the playoffs.

Key Players: Senior RB Dom Jones, Junior RB Morgon Ferguson, Junior QB Eli Pasquale, Junior DE Eric Deking, Junior OL Jermaine Davis, Senior OL Collin Giammella

Departing Seniors: Graduated 14 including Shaun Jones, Derrick Edmonson II, Jeraud Kelly, Noah Trago, Giovanni Barletta, Brad Burke, Tyler Duncan, Nathan Hartman, and Hank Miller

Big Games: Fortunately for the Mustangs, they won’t see Dolgeville until the final week of the season, when they will travel to Bill Bynon Field to face the Blue Devils. That does not mean the road to the playoffs will be easy for Mount Markham: four of their last five games are against teams who made the playoffs last year. It starts with the Cato-Meridian Blue Devils coming to town on September 22 before traveling to face sectional finalist Beaver River on September 29. Just before their rematch with Dolgeville on October 21, the Mustangs will have a rematch with Sandy Creek, their quarterfinal opponent from last year.