Mt. Vernon’s Joliba Brogan, shown here in a game last season against Franklin, scored three touchdowns Friday at Noblesville.
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
NOBLESVILLE — Mt. Vernon senior running back Joliba Brogan had touchdowns in the first, third and fourth quarters, but the Class 4A Marauders came up short in a 43-24 loss at Class 6A Noblesville Friday.
Both teams came in receiving votes in their respective polls in the Indiana Football Coaches Association rankings.
The Marauders (0-1) got off to a good start. Christian Kiptoo recovered a fumble early in the game and Brogan later scored on a 7-yard run to give Mt. Vernon a 7-0 lead with 10:11 remaining in the first quarter.
Tied 7-7 after one, the Millers took the lead for a good with a touchdown run from Max Miller with 7:28 left in the first half.
Trailing 22-7 late in the second quarter, Mt. Vernon got back on the board with a 47-yard field goal from Rylan Vinard.
Noblesville took control in the third quarter by outscoring the Marauders 21-6.
“We were able to jump out to a 7-0 lead, but hats off to them, they stuck to their ground game,” Mt. Vernon head coach Vince Lidy said. “Our kids played hard. We didn’t stop scrapping and fighting until the very end and that’s all we could ask. We couldn’t keep pace with scoring. They slugged it on us with 14- and 15-play drives.
“We couldn’t flip the field position by either a couple first downs and a good punt and they got back in their ground game and chipped away at us. We got behind a couple too many scores.”
Brogan scored midway through the period to cut it to 36-16 and had a 6-yard TD run in the final period for the final points of the game.
“He ran like a 6A running back,” Lidy said of Brogan. “He was a positive on our offense along with (sophomore quarterback) Mason Meyer using his legs. He made a few things out of nothing.”
“Noblesville has Division I players all over the field on both sides of the ball,” Lidy added. “It’s a great test for us. We’re not going to see a team like that, physically, on our schedule. If I have 3,000 kids to choose from and 180 kids on my team, I’m good. We went toe-to-toe with them for three quarters.”
Mt. Vernon is back on the road next week at Class 5A Franklin. The Grizzly Cubs won their season opener at New Albany 47-6.
