Mt. Vernon’s Keagan La Belle runs past a Yorktown defender on Friday, Oct. 15, 2021.
FORTVILLE — To the victor go the spoils.
And fittingly, for both Mt. Vernon seniors Keagan La Belle and Gehrig Slunaker, the embarrassment of riches hasn’t stopped since the duo become Indiana high school gridiron immortals this past November.
By the conclusion of Mt. Vernon’s historic Class 4A state championship season, La Belle and Slunaker were each undeniable 2021 Hoosier Heritage Conference selections after leading the Marauders to back-to-back outright team titles — and the program’s sixth overall.
La Belle, a standout two-way starter, received one of the state’s highest distinctions by being named to the Indiana Football Coaches Association’s Top-50 all-state team as a linebacker. Slunaker, a record-setting quarterback for the state champion Marauders, earned 4A senior all-state honors and was the IHSAA’s 4A football state finals Phil N. Eskew Mental Attitude Award recipient.
This winter, the duo each cemented their collegiate futures as La Belle committed to Indianapolis’ Marian University in late January, and Slunaker decided on Kentucky’s Georgetown College in early February.
“Some other awards have been coming in for them, too. Both of those guys are (IFCA) academic all-state, they’re going to play some college football, they made the (IFCA Region 8 all-stars), and Keagan is looking to do some things in track in college. He’s a wild man and does pole vault,” Mt. Vernon Vince Lidy remarked.
Adding to their list of accolades that includes an obvious state championship medal, La Belle and Slunaker captain a total of 10 Marauders elected to the 2021 Daily Reporter All-Hancock County Football Team as the Defensive and Offensive Athletes of the Year, respectively.
Their state championship finale inside Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis against Northridge, 45-14, on Nov. 27, capping a 14-game winning streak, made the tandem automatic choices, but their productivity made them indisputable.
With both playing key roles on offense, defense and special teams, the Marauders finished the year a record-setting 14-1 overall as the state’s top-scoring team. As unquestionable team leaders, they not only left a lasting legacy, they were also part of the winningest senior class to ever compete at Mt. Vernon with a 44-9 record the past four seasons.
“As coaches, it makes it easy to coach those guys, especially guys who have been in the system and the program and play at a high level,” Lidy said. “When your best players on the field are your hardest workers and do everything that’s asked and beyond, and they do it in the classroom, and they’re also really good people outside the walls of the school, it makes your job really fun. It’s one of those things where it may not come around all the time, but those two guys, and then you throw in the Ashden Gentrys and the Ray Wells and the other guys, we had a lot of good football players, and those two helped us cap an amazing season.”
Slunaker, Lidy’s nephew, broke the 3,000-yard passing mark for the first time in his career during the 4A state finals to end his prep career with 8,286 yards and 80 passing touchdowns. Against Northridge, Slunaker competed 12 of 18 passes for 235 yards, which propelled him to 3,028 as a senior with 34 touchdowns.
His three-touchdown performance during the state title game was his eighth three-touchdown game in 2021, upping his completion total to 147 in an efficient 214 attempts.
Slunaker, who also converted a handful of extra-points as a placekicker, averaged 201.9 yards passing per game, tossed a career-low five interceptions and rushed for five touchdowns to give him 15 in four years with 486 yards. After transferring to Mt. Vernon from rival Greenfield-Central, Slunaker worked his way up to his starting role under center, and the transition from the Marauders receiving corp. his sophomore year paid dividends with 2,080 yards passing and 14 touchdowns.
As a junior, he fell short of the 2,000-yard mark, but he excelled with 22 touchdowns to lead the Marauders to a second of three straight sectional championships after the program won its first-ever regional title in 2019 with Slunaker as the primary signal-caller.
“He did a great job last year, and it was one of those things where we got to the point of putting more on him as a senior. He does a great job outside our walls of taking care of himself and gets his own coaching as a quarterback,” Lidy said. “It’s easy to say, but we always talk about taking what the defense gives you, but in the game of football, especially with younger quarterbacks, it’s hard for them to realize what’s going on. But, he was able to see that bigger picture.”
For Slunaker, he emphasized “the journey,” a never-ending path towards success, which ultimately came to a close as Mt. Vernon’s first football state championship.
“It’s amazing to finally say, we won, and now, we’re going to celebrate forever. We get to hold on to this for the rest of our lives. No one can ever take this away from us,” Slunaker remarked after the Marauders’ state championship victory. “Normally, I’m used to saying, we got to look forward to next week. We have to get better, but this is amazing. The journey is complete, and I’ll never forget this.”
What made the season unforgettable proved to be the Marauders’ and Slunaker’s unselfish approach to winning.
There were no egos and a plethora of outlets on offense, especially La Belle, a homegrown, fleet-footed bruising rusher who set single-season career highs in all major rushing categories this season.
A two-way starter most of his three varsity seasons, La Belle was actually a three-way star, providing a punch as a kick returner on special teams along with fellow senior scoring-threat Ashden Gentry.
Gentry led the Marauders and the county with 1,271 yards receiving and 13 touchdowns, but Slunaker connected with eight different players for at least one score this season.
“You could see him through the whole season, and particularly in the state championship, when he sprinkles the ball around it’s to a George Burhenn, Eli Bridenthal, Ashden Gentry or Tre Jones. It leaves the defense thinking, ‘I don’t have an answer for that? Unless I’m good enough to take everybody away. He was able to realize those things, and that made it really nice for us when you call your concept, and he, over 90 percent of the time, even when he had some interceptions, would get the ball in the right spot. That’s all you can ask.”
And if for some reason, a defense found a way to ground Mt. Vernon’s aerial onslaught, La Belle would provide the necessary balance.
“He was that Energizer bunny. When he played running back, it’s downhill at 100 mph and it’s one cut and gone,” Lidy said. “He’s fearless. He’s been doing that for three years.”
His final season was his best with 1,594 yards rushing and 26 touchdowns. La Belle hauled in three receiving touchdowns for 193 yards and finished with 2,059 all-purpose yards with 272 as a kick returner. In his career, he rushed for 2,790 yards on 303 carries at 77.5 yards per game and 49 touchdowns.
On defense, he was a run stopper at linebacker, totaling 107 tackles (71 solos) with 11.0 for a loss and one forced fumble. The Marauders defense routinely shut down the opposition, giving the offense ample time and field position to initiate 11 IHSAA mercy-rule, running-clock margins in 15 games.
“Keagan was a junior all-state as a sophomore (defensive back) on defense. He had over 100 tackles, so he’s always been a defensive player, and this year was no different. It was great having a guy like that,” Lidy said. “I’m hoping he gets to make the (IFCA) all-star team this summer, and that’ll springboard him to college.”
La Belle is projected to being a running back and a special team player at Marian, but with three consecutive 100-plus total tackle seasons, he can handle any opportunity as evident by his nine sacks and two interceptions recorded as a junior.
However, any cracked door is meant to be kicked open when it comes to La Belle, who rushed for a career-best five touchdowns during Mt. Vernon’s 49-34 sectional semifinal victory against Greenfield-Central on Oct. 29. He ranks second on the Marauders’ all-time, single-game list for rushing touchdowns behind Derek Shelton (6) and Tyler Dicks (6).
One thing he has over all other Marauders’ rushers in history however, is a football state championship, which will be proudly displayed in Mt. Vernon’s athletics hallway of champions outside the school’s gymnasium for years to come.
“Everyone on this team deserves every little bit of anything they get. This is the best team we’ve had in Mt. Vernon history, and the best senior class we’ve had in Mt. Vernon history,” La Belle emphasized after the state finals. “We’re going down in the books, and I’m glad it was us.”
Lidy, who had six players elected to the All-HHC team, won’t soon forget his seniors, particularly La Belle and Slunaker.
“All the work they put in, it’s something that will always be there,” Lidy said. “Every day it gets deeper in the rear view mirror, but you don’t ever want to forget where you were, what you did and what you accomplished. Being proud of that is something they won’t forget and something people won’t forget.”
2021 All-Hancock County Football Team
Offense
QB Gehrig Slunaker, Mt. Vernon
RB Keagan La Belle, Mt. Vernon
RB Grayson Thomas, New Palestine
WR Ashden Gentry, Mt. Vernon
WR Cole Rainbolt, Eastern Hancock
WR Isaiah Thacker, New Palestine
ATH Andrew Zellers, Greenfield-Central
OL Luke Burgess, New Palestine
OL Brayden Flener, Greenfield-Central
OL Razhaun Wells, Mt. Vernon
OL Cole Herman, Mt. Vernon
OL Ian Moore, New Palestine
K Brendan Tanksley, New Palestine
Defense
DL Brad Allen, Greenfield-Central
DL Owen Johnson, Mt. Vernon
DL Michael Thacker, New Palestine
LB Eli Hook, New Palestine
LB Keagan La Belle, Mt. Vernon
LB Max Hayse, Mt. Vernon
LB Spencer Johnson, Greenfield-Central
LB Kain Sotelo, Eastern Hancock
DB Avery Williams Jr., Mt. Vernon
DB Rashawn Street, Greenfield-Central
DB George Burhenn, Mt. Vernon
DB Maddix Johnson, New Palestine
P Brady Durnell, Greenfield-Central
Coach of the Year: Vince Lidy, Mt. Vernon
Honorable Mentions: Eastern Hancock — Houston Swan, Zach Arnold, Landon O’Neal, Chase Riggs, Logan Hoskins, Aaron Redmon. Mt. Vernon — Eli Bridenthal, Tre Jones, Luke Hiner, Travon Hegler, Ethan Yeley. New Palestine — Damon Hockett, Blaine Nunnally, Gus Walling, Eian Roudebush. Greenfield-Central — Brayden Herrell, Kirk Knecht, Reese Hill, Jake Skinner, Owen Anderson, Hudson McGuire, Logan Masters.
