NOBLESVILLE — If by chance the Mt. Vernon Marauders’ season opener against Noblesville was their last Friday night, it won’t be one they’ll soon forget.
The Class 4A sixth-ranked Marauders (1-0) jumped out quick on the host Millers (0-1), while Indiana State commit Rylan Cole ran a punt-return fumble back for a 69-yard touchdown and threw for another as Mt. Vernon won 42-17.
Cole, a senior, also collected a key fumble recovery in the first quarter, and his halfback-pass touchdown throw to senior newcomer, 6-foot-6, 205-pound Tanner Koziol traveled 24 yards to put Mt. Vernon ahead 28-7 by halftime.
“This is something I’ll never take for granted. You hear about all these schools missing their games. I just praise the Lord for this opportunity to play. We came out strong and we were ready to play. We had a great game,” Cole said.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryKoziol, a transfer from Nazareth Academy in La Grange Park, Ill., hauled in a pair of touchdowns for the Marauders at 24 and 9 yards to finish with 49 yards on five receptions.
Mt. Vernon quarterback Gehrig Slunaker completed 14 of 20 pass attemtps for 184 yards and a touchdown pass to Koziol, but his opening series touchdown run — the first of two — set the tone.
Needing only nine seconds, Slunaker sprinted 39 yards down the field to put the Marauders up 7-0 with 9:28 left in the first quarter. The Mt. Vernon defense setup the short-field drive with a turnover on downs.
Overall, the Marauders defense quieted the Millers’ offense with a pair of sacks, an interception by Keagan LaBelle (who also had an 11-yard TD run) and another fumble recovery by Mekhi Richmond.
The Marauders forced two turnover on downs, and held the Millers to seven points until late in the fourth quarter as the backups entered with an IHSAA “mercy rule” running clock initiated with 7:58 left in the third quarter.
Slunaker led the Marauders with 28 yards rushing on five carries, losing 17 yards on a sack, which lowered his total, but not his impact.
“Once (Slunaker’s rushing TD) happened, it broke the ice. We’re playing a 6A team. We’re just as good, if not better. We wanted to go out and finish the game,” Cole said. “It was really awesome.”
The same could be said of Cole, who turned a potential punt-return fumble by Ashden Gentry near the Millers’ 30-yard line into a highlight reel play.
“I saw the ball was kind of short, and I told him, ‘You, you, fair catch,’ then all of a sudden I saw he didn’t fair catch it and he got smashed. It was time for me to make a play,” Cole said. “I just picked up the ball, broke a couple of tackles, saw some green and put it in the end zone.”
The score provided the Marauders some breathing room after Noblesville cut the deficit, 14-7, following a 17-play drive that spanned 75 yards in 6 minutes, 15 seconds with 2:59 remaining in the first quarter.
“He’s pretty good, but we expect that though. He’s a four-year starter, so we expect him to be able to take over a game,” Mt. Vernon head coach Mike Kirschner said. “That punt return was big because they got it to 14-7 and the momentum had kind of shifted. Gentry went to catch the ball, the ball pops out. We give those guys the green light, if they think they can pick it up, and he picked it up and went about 70 yards. It was a game-changer.”
Cole’s fumble recovery on first-and-10 on the Millers’ 20 with 9:28 left in the first setup Slunaker’s first touchdown pass to Koziol that went 9 yards.
Jalen Thomeson forced the fumble as he hit Noblesville quarterback Conner Meinerding in the backfield with Cole closing in fast.
“We cannot take one game for granted. No matter who we’re playing as long as we’re playing,” Cole said. “You really have to play our hearts out every week.”
Gentry led the Marauders with 105 yards receiving on five receptions, including a 68-yard pass from Slunaker on the opening series of the second half. Slunaker ran it in 3 yards for his second rushing touchdown and a 35-7 lead.
“We told them at halftime, if we come out and score a couple quick, this game gets real short real fast,” Kirschner said. “I’m really pleased. Our effort was good. We came out pretty healthy, so move onto next week, hopefully.”
The Millers scored their final 10 points against Mt. Vernon’s subs. Grayden Addison converted a 36-yard field goal and Andrew Petrulis capped a 15-yard drive with a touchdown with just under five seconds on the clock.
“We got a little bit of juice, but our kids have worked extremely hard in the weight room trying to get ready. They made the most of their opportunity, and that’s what we told them. I said, ‘Treat every game like it might be our last,” Kirschner said. “Give everything you got. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t.”
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Mt. Vernon 42, Noblesville 17
MV (1-0);14;14;14;0;-;42
NB (0-1);7;0;0;10;-;17
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
MV – Gehrig Slunaker 39 yd run (AJ Swingle kick), 9:28
MV – Tanner Koziol 9 yd pass from Slunaker (Swingle kick), 9:20
N – Chance Yeager 3 yd run (Grayden Addison kick), 2:59
2nd Quarter
MV – Rylan Cole 69 yd punt return (Swingle kick), 9:30
MV – Koziol 24 yd pass from Cole (Swingle kick), 2:39
3rd Quarter
MV – Slunaker 3 yd run (Swingle kick), 10:51
MV – Keagan LaBelle 11 yd run (Swingle kick), 7:58
4th Quarter
N – Addison 36 yd FG, 5:58
N – Andrew Petrulis 1 yd run (Nathan Logue kick), 4.7
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