By Cameron Baker
For The Daily Reporter
FORTVILLE — Coming into their Friday night Hoosier Heritage Conference football matchup, Mt. Vernon and New Castle looked to extend their winning streaks of two and three games, respectively.
Mt. Vernon (3-4, 3-2) had turned its season around in recent weeks after starting 0-4 by picking up conference wins against Pendleton Heights and Delta.
A complete performance from Mt. Vernon allowed it to extend the streak to three wins with a 45-21 win on Homecoming night.
Mt. Vernon’s momentum continued after Mason Meyer led a 12 play, 64-yard drive to score late in the first quarter. On the next drive, New Castle (4-3, 3-2) was held to a three-and-out, and it helped set up a 51-yard touchdown pass from Meyer to Ryker Baer to give Mt. Vernon a 13-0 lead.
“I didn’t want them to have the ball. I wanted to kind of play keep away and push it so we could score. We were able to capitalize on some great field position,” Mt. Vernon coach Vince Lidy said.
The second quarter marked an offensive explosion for both teams as they put up a combined four touchdowns in just the last three and a half minutes of the second quarter.
The 28-point three-minute span started off with Mt. Vernon’s Joliba Brogan scoring on a 4-yard run, his first of two touchdowns on the night. The very next play saw New Castle’s Carson Bell and Cade Logston connect for an 80-yard passing touchdown that marked the first big play the Mt. Vernon defense had given up all evening.
Brogan’s 37-yard rush on the next drive set up the second Meyer-to-Baer touchdown.
New Castle instantly responded with a 77-yard screen pass to Caleb Clapp that set up the final touchdown of the back-and-forth period. Clapp fought through the sea of black for a 2-yard touchdown run.
“We probably rotated nearly 20 kids in on defense. Not that we’re counting reps or anything, but we have a lot of kids who are in key spots playing on both sides of the ball, and I know that they only have so much tread in their tires. They hit two home runs, and we can quickly score, but they scored in one play,” Lidy said.
The start of the third quarter proved to have the same electricity.
On the third play, Bell aired it out to Logston once again. Baer was there to tip the ball away, but a show of extreme focus allowed Logston to pull it down and break away. Just as Logston was crossing the 10-yard line, Gavin Joy hawked him down and forced a fumble to give his team the ball, and momentum, back.
Mt. Vernon was held to a field goal on their following drive and then gave up a touchdown to New Castle to make the score 31-21 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but the plan for the rest of the game was clear — feed Brogan.
Brogan ran the ball through the opposition all the way down to the 17-yard line, and DJ Johnson took a jet sweep 17 yards to the house to start the beginning of the end for New Castle. A turnover on downs left Mt. Vernon at the 31-yard line, and Brogan officially ended the game after a one-yard rushing touchdown.
“You can’t peak in August and September. Our focus is always trying to get better each week, and that’s what it’s been. We started off with some pretty good competition and had to navigate through some personnel issues, which everyone does. These kids have done a really good job of not letting the early losses dictate how they practice and perform,” Lidy said.
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Mt. Vernon 45, New Castle 21
Mt. Vernon (3-4, 3-2);13;15;3;14; 45
New Castle (4-3, 3-2);0;14;0;7; 21
1st Quarter
MV – Mason Meyer 2 run (Rylan Vinard kick), 2:53
MV – Ryker Baer 51 pass from Mason Meyer (PAT failed), :39.0
2nd Quarter
MV – Joliba Brogan 4 run (DJ Johnson run), 3:47
NC – Caleb Logston 80 pass from Carson Bell (PAT failed), 3:36
MV- Baer 18 pass from Meyer (Vinard kick), 1:23
NC – Caleb Clapp 2 run (Clapp run), 18.5
3rd Quarter
MV – Vinard 35 FG 2:35
4th Quarter
NC – Clapp 2 run (kick good), 10:15
MV – Johnson 17 run (Vinard kick), 6:06
MV – Brogan 1 run (Vinard kick), 1:41
