Kyler Grill (77) is representing Mt. Vernon in tonight’s North-South All-Star Classic.
Submitted Photo
FORTVILLE — For Mt. Vernon’s Kyler Grill, tonight will be a special high school sendoff and something he’s dreamed of since he was young.
The linebacker will be representing Mt. Vernon for one final time in the 57th Annual Murat Shrine North/South Football All-Star Classic, to be held at Decatur Central High School.
“It feels great. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Grill said. “It just really feels special because I felt like I grew up always with the dream of playing in a big game like this. It’s going to be really entertaining and fun, and I’m excited to get out there.”
Not only is the game a chance for Grill to achieve a dream of his, it’s one final time for him to represent the only place that he’s ever played the sport he’s grown to love.
For the last 12 years, Grill has played football with the Mt. Vernon name across his chest.
Tonight, while his jersey will be a different color and will read South across the front, his helmet will sport the Mt. Vernon colors and logo.
“It’s a great thing to be moving on to the next part of my career, but also very sad. Mt. Vernon is the only place I’ve ever played football,” Grill said. “It’s great to represent the school one last time, and it’s great to make it big.”
Grill’s last four seasons have been as a member of one of the winningest senior classes in Mt. Vernon history.
Over the four-year stretch, his class compiled an overall record of 43-9 and rarely disappointed the home fans, going 16-3 at Hancock Health Stadium.
They lost just two Hoosier Heritage Conference games in the four seasons, ending with a 26-2 record and two HHC championships.
It wasn’t just regular season success that the class saw, though. The group left Mt. Vernon with three sectional championships, two regional titles, one semi-state title, and one state championship.
“These last four years have just been a great experience. It all started right away freshman year, when we made it farther than any Mt. Vernon team had by going all the way to semi-state,” Grill said. “And then it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience getting to go to state and hold that down for our community.”
Grill saw time on the varsity team all four seasons, but this last season was his most successful.
As a freshman, Grill played in three games and had three tackles, in his sophomore season he had four tackles in four games, and in his junior season he had five tackles over three games.
As a senior, though, Grill blew all of those numbers out of the water, and was named All-HHC.
He played in nine games for the Marauders and had 51 total tackles (32 solo, 16 assisted), three tackles for a loss, one sack, two pass deflections, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery.
His senior season was highlighted by a 20-tackle game in the Marauders season opener against Noblesville.
He’ll try to emulate all of that success as a member of the South All-Star team, where he’ll be playing with kids from all over the southern part of Indiana, including a pair of rivals from Greenfield-Central, Andrew Zellers and Garrett Taylor.
“The big aspect is that I will get to be with a bunch of kids from other schools, and that’ll be a great experience just seeing how everyone else plays and how we can all come together,” Grill said. “I’ll even get to play with some of my rivals, so it’s nice to see that everyone can all come together in this great sport and have some fun.”
After the lights go out on Friday night, Grill’s high school football career will be over, and his focus will solely be on his next chapter, collegiate football.
Grill will continue his academic and athletic career at Taylor University, an NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) school in Upland, Indiana.
While this week his focus has been on the North-South game, the rest of his summer has been focused on the upcoming college season and practicing with his new teammates.
“It’s an experience like no other. College ball is a lot different from high school with the amount of work,” Grill said. “The first day I was there, it just felt like a huge family, and everyone is already pretty good friends. It’s definitely something I look forward to, and I can’t wait to play college ball.”
Although the colors, team name, and teammates will be different, Grill hopes both tonight’s game and his future at Taylor University will be full of the same success that he saw during his time at Mt. Vernon.
“I hope I can just stay healthy, continue to play to the best of my ability, and help my teammates out,” Grill said. “Hopefully we continue growing that family feeling and can have success as a team while I’m there.”
