FORTVILLE — Mt. Vernon won for the fifth straight time and earned a spot in a sectional title game for the fourth time in the last five years with a 42-12 victory over Beech Grove at Mt. Vernon High School Friday.
Mt. Vernon improved to 7-4 overall and will host No. 3 New Palestine (9-2) in next Friday’s Class 4A Sectional 22 championship game.
New Palestine earned a spot with a 35-0 win over No. 4 Greenfield-Central.
It will be the second time the Marauders and Dragons have played this season. New Palestine won a Week 4 shootout in New Palestine, 63-39, on Sept. 8.
On Friday, after a scoreless first quarter, Mt. Vernon took control to lead the Hornets 21-0 at halftime.
It was a night of big plays. Quarterback Tyler Etherington threw for four touchdowns, a pair to Tre Jones and one each to Chris Edmonds — who also had a rushing touchdown — and Domanic Barnett.
From the Mt. Vernon 32, Joliba Brogan broke off a 34-yard run. Three plays later Etherington found Jones for a 20-yarder to get to the Beech Grove 15. Two plays after that it was Edmonds on a 14-yard end around to give the Marauders a 7-0 lead.
Etherington finished the half with two of his touchdown passes. An 8-yarder to Jones gave Mt. Vernon a 14-0 lead. And, with just 49 seconds left until halftime, he hooked up for a 17-yard strike to Barnett.
Mt. Vernon picked up right where it left off to open the third quarter.
Etherington and Edmonds connected on a 64-yard pass play to give Mt. Vernon a 28-0 lead just 26 seconds into the second half.
The big pass plays weren’t done yet.
After the Hornets had cut the Marauders lead to 28-6, it was Etherington to Jones, again. The combo went for 79 yards and a 35-6 lead with 2:08 remaining in the third quarter.
Setting up touchdowns much of the night, Brogan scored one in the fourth quarter, a 33-yard run with 7:41 left for the final points of the night.
The Mt. Vernon offense has scored 28 or more points in 10 of 11 games. It was a good night on the defensive side, too. The 12 points given up were the lowest total against the Marauders this season.
Friday’s matchup was the first meeting between Mt. Vernon and Beech Grove since a 2014 sectional game won by the Hornets, 36-21.
