Mustangs saddle up for full GFL schedule

By JOHN MCPOLAND Friday, May 1, 2009

Regular season

JUNE: 5—Racine Heat; 12; 12—At Oak Creek Renegades; 19—At Lake Shore Lynx; 26—At Kenosha Storm

JULY: 10—At Kenosha Cougars; 17—At West Allis Gators; 24—At Lake County Cowboys; 31—At South Milwaukee Rage.

AUGUST: 7—Racine Gladiators; 14—Racine Heat.

The Janesville Mustangs are now full members of the semi-professional Gridiron Football League.

Team owners overwhelmingly approved adding Janesville to the 10-team, eight-man football league at a Wednesday meeting.

The Mustangs are scheduled to play their season opener on Friday, June 5, against the Racine Heat. The 10-game regular season runs through mid-August with league playoffs scheduled for the end of August and a championship game set for Sept. 4.

Janesville’s expansion team had been granted associate league member status in late March. The Mustangs got a chance to receive full status as an expansion team when the Union Grove Knights dropped out of the league.

Topher Diehl, owner/head coach/player, hopes the team’s upgraded status in the GFL will enhance his efforts to recruit players.

The Mustangs lost a scrimmage on April 23 to Kenosha, 24-21. Janesville suited up just nine players for that game.

“We have 15 players,” Diehl said. “That’s a little less than what the league hopes for. We lost some players when we didn’t get full status originally.

“I hope this new news changes things and we can get those players to come back. The league wants us to have a few more players on our roster. We can recruit players until June 18. The final roster is due that day.”

The GFL plays the majority of its games on Friday nights, meaning the Mustangs will not be playing games in the same time slot as the Rock County Gladiators.

The Mustangs have been practicing at Monterey Field on Friday nights and Sunday afternoons. Diehl said he plans to talk with Janesville city officials about scheduling home games at Monterey Stadium.

“We’d like to play at Monterey Stadium, but we know it’s going to be expensive,” Diehl said.

The Janesville Mustangs’ 2009 schedule:

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