FORTVILLE — Mt. Vernon is putting together its winning streak at the right time.
A week after winning back-to-back games for the first time this season, the Marauders made it three in a row with a 35-21 victory over the Yorktown Tigers on a rainy Senior Night at Dellen Field Friday.
It was the ninth straight win in their Hoosier Heritage Conference series with Yorktown, and guaranteed the team a .500 or better record and a plus-.500 mark in the HHC. Mt. Vernon will take a 5-4 mark into next week’s Class 4A Sectional 22 opener at Richmond (1-8). The Marauders finished 4-3 in conference games.
“It’s huge,” Mt. Vernon head coach Vince Lidy said of going into tournament play with a winning streak. “With the adversity we’ve had with kids getting hurt, banged up and moving kids around and with a young quarterback, we’ve got to get some continuity. With what we’ve lost with our skill positions, getting three in a row was huge.”
A big loss for the Marauders was sophomore quarterback Luke Ertel.
In his second year as a starter, Ertel suffered a foot injury in a Sept. 29 win at New Castle and is out for the season. Normally a tight end, Tyler Etherington finished the New Castle game at quarterback position. Frosh Mason Meyer played last week at Shelbyville and Friday in the win against Yorktown.
“Other guys have had to step up,” Lidy said. “For a program like ours, offensively, defensively or special teams, we’ve never been a one-player scheme or system. But, a player that has played as much football and did as much as Luke Ertel did for us, when a kid like that goes down … Mason Meyer has stepped in. Tyler Etherington took over in the New Castle game. Our skill guys, like (running back) Joliba Brogan have had to pick it up. We’re not asking them to do more, we’re just asking them to make the plays when their number is called.”
Meyer had a touchdown run and touchdown pass and Brogan had two touchdowns in Friday’s win.
Brogan rushed, unofficially, for 218 yards on 28 carries. Meyer was 8 of 13 with an interception and 92 yards.
“He’s going to be a big focal point.” Lidy said of Brogan. “When he’s on and we’re blocking up front, and he can make one guy miss, he’s as good as any running back in the conference.”
On Friday, after a three-and-out possession on its opening series, Mt. Vernon got on the board with a five-yard run on an end around by senior Tre Jones. Two long runs from Brogan set up the score. He had a 20-yard carry to get the ball to the Yorktown 39 and a 35-yarder to get to the 5.
Yorktown fumbled on its first offensive play after the ensuing kickoff. Mt. Vernon had a short field and took advantage of it. Starting from the Tigers 15, the Marauders eventually scored on a 3-yard run from Meyer.
Early in the second quarter, the Tigers cut the Marauders’ 14-point lead in half, but it didn’t last long.
After a 35-yard run from Yorktown quarterback Mason Moulton, running back Ayden Ewing scored on a 5-yard run to cut it to 14-7 with 6:58 left until halftime.
Brogan got six back right away. He took the kickoff at the Mt. Vernon 20 and ran by the Tiger defense for another Marauder touchdown. Rylan Vinard made his third straight PAT for a 21-7 lead.
Brogan added a 5-yard touchdown run at 4:42 of the third to give the Marauders a three score lead, 28-7.
Meyer, after Yorktown had cut it to 28-14, made one of the biggest plays of the night.
On a third-and-14 play early in the fourth quarter, he found Domanic Barnett for a 39-yard touchdown to get the lead back up to 35-14.
Senior Corbin May had an interception later in the fourth to help the Marauders seal the win.
Yorktown (4-5, 2-5) begins play in Class 3A Sectional 27 next week at Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran.
–
Mt. Vernon 35, Yorktown 21
Yorktown (4-5, 2-5);0;7;7;7;-;21
Mt. Vernon (5-4, 3-4);14;7;7;7;-;35
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
MV – Tre Jones 5 run (Rylan Vinard kick) 4:31
MV – Mason Meyer 3 run (Vinard kick) 3:21
2nd Quarter
Y – Ayden Ewing 5 run (Henry Weaver kick) 6:58
MV – Joliba Brogan 80 kickoff return (Vinard kick) 6:46
3rd Quarter
MV – Brogan 5 run (Vinard kick) 4:42
Y – Wilson Webster 16 run (Weaver kick) 3:24
4th Quarter
MV – Domanic Barnett 39 pass from Meyer (Vinard kick) 11:17
Y – Quintin Williams 48 pass from Mason Moulton (Weaver kick) 10:21
