KINGSTON – Regardless of the result of Saturday’s regular season finale between Midd-West and Holy Redeemer, it wasn’t going to change what either team would be doing next week.
The Royals already had their spot in the District 2 Class 2A playoffs locked in and they will play at unbeaten top seed Dunmore next week in the first round. Midd-West, on the other hand, would be playing its final game of the season, as the Mustangs did not qualify for the District 4 Class 4A playoffs.
Still, both teams had something to play for. For the Royals, they had already set a school record for most wins in a season with five, and with a win, could guarantee the program’s first-ever winning season. Midd-West was looking to improve its win total for the third straight year.
So, while it didn’t change anything, by the end of the night, it looked more like Midd-West should be the playoff bound team.
For the third straight year, it was Midd-West that got the better of the Royals and this time, in dominating fashion. The Mustangs held Holy Redeemer to just 26 yards of offense and forced five Royal turnovers, and that was more than enough to overcome six turnovers of their own as the Mustangs wrapped up their 2026 season with a 21-0 shutout over Holy Redeemer.
“Our defense was just absolute monsters tonight. They’ve been really showing up the second half of the season and tonight really put it all together and looked great,” said Midd-West coach Jeff Janovich. “They’ve really come a long way, just working together and doing what they need to do. I’ve never had a team that won a game with six turnovers but it sure feels good to do so.”
The win was the third of the season for the Mustangs, their most in a season since they won four in 2019. It also marks the third straight season of an improvement in wins, as Midd-West has gone from a winless season in 2023, to one, two and now three wins in each season since.
Two years ago, Midd-West snapped a 27-game losing streak with a win over Holy Redeemer in the teams’ final game of the regular season. The Mustangs then followed that up with a home win over the Royals, who were also bound for the District 2 playoffs, in last season’s regular season finale.
“The last couple of years, we’ve been on the uptick and we definitely expect that to keep moving,” said Janovich.
Midd-West sacked Holy Redeemer quarterback Brady McDermott five times. In his final game as a Mustang, Jared Devine spent a good portion of the evening in the Holy Redeemer backfield, and his 2.5 sacks were enough to set the school record for career sacks. While he was there the most, he was most definitely not alone, as the Mustangs recorded 12 negative yardage plays and held the Royals to just three first downs.
“Our execution was off and a lot of the things we normally do in the passing game just weren’t there tonight,” said Holy Redeemer coach Vito Quaglia. “It’s about pushing through that adversity that happens and we couldn’t find another gear. Defensively, especially in the first half, we were battling and that’s one of the things we really improved on this year, as opposed to last season. But, we just didn’t execute in some spots that we normally do. It happens at times and you’ve just got to find another way, but give them credit. They found ways to overcome their mistakes and we couldn’t.”
Only four out of 15 rushing attempts by Holy Redeemer resulted in positive yardage, and McDermott only completed 6-of-26 passes on the evening.
While Holy Redeemer was the beneficiary of six Mustang turnovers, McDermott was also picked off five times by five different Midd-West players, and unlike the Royals, Midd-West did manage to score off one of them.
There were a combined five turnovers in the first quarter alone – two by the Royals and three by the Mustangs – but neither team was able to score. A 36-yard field goal attempt by Midd-West fell short on the first play of the second quarter.
But Holy Redeemer’s ensuing drive produced a combined -14 yards, and a 26-yard punt with a nine-yard return gave Midd-West the ball at the Royal 33-yard line. Four plays later, Witten Carter extended the play by scrambling around in the pocket and eventually found Mason Fultz in the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown pass to get the Mustangs on the scoreboard.
Midd-West’s next scoring drive came from nearly identical starting field position, as McDermott was picked off by Aiden Rose, who returned it to the Royal 32 at the 5:47 mark of the second quarter. The Mustangs then took seven plays and Noah Kratzer punctuated the drive with a one-yard plunge that made it 14-0 after a successful two-point conversion.
Given the way Midd-West’s defense was playing, the Mustangs’ opening drive of the second half may have put the exclamation point on the game, and that turned out to be the case. After receiving the second half kickoff, but being pushed back to their own 21-yard line after a penalty to start the drive, the Mustangs proceeded to chew up nearly half of the third quarter with an 11-play, 79-yard drive capped by Fultz’ second touchdown of the night, an 18-yard run, to make it 21-0.
In his final high school game, Fultz was a big difference in the game, as his 59 rushing yards on 12 carries was a game-high and he also caught a pair of passes for 32 yards. Carter completed 10-of-15 passes for 103 yards and a touchdown despite also throwing four interceptions.
After Fultz’s second touchdown of the night, Holy Redeemer still had five more possessions in the game, but two ended with interceptions and the other three ended with four-and-outs.
Despite the dismal ending to the regular season, the Royals still set a record for wins in a season, finishing at 5-5, and with a win would have guaranteed a winning record for the first time in school history. While that still is possible, it’ll be a much steeper climb going up against Dunmore next week. Still, the Royals are in the postseason for the second straight year.
“Two years in a row, Redeemer is in the postseason. We have some work to do and have to go against a pretty stout opponent next week and we understand that, but it’s an opportunity and we’re always going to seize an opportunity to go out there and play some football,” said Quaglia.
Midd-West 21, Holy Redeemer 0
Midd-West (3-7) 0 14 7 0 – 21
Holy Redeemer (5-5) 0 0 0 0 – 0
Second quarter
8:01 – (MW) Mason Fultz 21-yard pass from Witten Carter (kick failed), 4-33, 2:02
2:23 – (MW) Noah Kratzer 1-yard run (D. Drumheller pass from Carter), 7-32, 3:24
Third quarter
6:21 – (MW) Mason Fultz 18-yard run (Kullman kick), 11-79, 5:39
Statistics
MW HR
First downs 17 3
Rushes-net yards 49-133 15-(-41)
Passing yardage 103 67
Passing 10-16-1-4 7-30-0-5
Fumbles-lost 3-2 1-0
Penalties-yards 7-75 4-45
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Midd-West: Mason Fultz (12-59-1), Witten Carter (10-2), Noah Kratzer (8-8-1), Maverick Smith (6-18), D’Angelo Drumheller (3-38), Jiovaunni Drumheller (3-6), Jared Devine (2-(-2)), Barry Penepacker (1-3), Grayson VanHorn (1-2), Konnor Kullman (1-0), Nic Hummel (1-0), Ronnie Johnson (1-(-1)); Holy Redeemer: Jerry Fino (6-(-9)), Brady McDermott (6-(-33)), Lucas Shrader (2-1), Kevin Arroyo (1-0)
PASSING: Midd-West: Witten Carter (10-15-103-1-4), Mason Fultz (0-1-0-0-0); Holy Redeemer: Brady McDermott (6-26-69-0-5), Lucas Shrader (1-3-(-2)-0-0), Max Mohutsky (0-1-0-0-0)
RECEIVING: Midd- West: D’Angelo Drumheller (5-45), Mason Fultz (2-32-1), Aiden Rose (2-15), Konnor Kullman (1-11); Holy Redeemer: Michael Zbierski (3-45), Jerry Fino (2-20), Ryan Zelinka (1-3), Lucas Shrader (1-(-1))