Mt’neers corral Mustangs with second half offensive wallop for win

Mt. Vernon football squad looks to East Newton, Friday

The Mt. Vernon Mt’neers defeated the McDonald County Mustangs, 42-20, on Friday, Sept. 13, at Mt’neer Stadium. The green and white team is now two wins, one loss for the season.
The Mt’neers drew first blood about midway through the first quarter when Gavin Johnston completed a 49-yard touchdown pass to Braden Dodson. Landon Popa followed up with a successful PAT to make the initial score 7-0. The Mt’neers scored again when Johnston completed a 17-yard touchdown pass to Jarrett Zerby near the end of the quarter. Popa again followed up with a successful PAT. However, the Mustangs then scored two touchdowns in the second quarter to tie the game 14-all at the end of the first half.
The score did not remain tied for very long. The Mt’neers returned to the field fired up for the second half, where they made four successive touchdowns. First, Dodson broke the tie with a 20-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter, which Popa followed up with a successful PAT.
Next, Johnston completed a 20-yard touchdown pass to Grayson Gann, further extending the Mt’neer lead. However, an attempt at a PAT failed, making the score 27-14.
Near the end of the third quarter, Dodson made a 33-yard touchdown run, which the Mt’neers followed up with a two-point conversion when Johnston completed a pass to Gann to make the score 35-14 at the end of the quarter.
The Mt’neers gained one more touchdown about midway through the fourth quarter when Hunter Conway capped off the team’s offensive drive with a three-yard plunge into the end zone. Popa again followed up with a successful PAT. However, the Mustangs made one more touchdown at the tail end of the game, which ended with a Mt’neer victory, 42-20.
Tom Cox, the Mt’neers head coach, said he was pleased with how the team played in the later part of the game.
“I think they finally decided to play,” he said, “and they really got their focus down what they needed to do and I was really proud of them in the second half. They did a great job. We had one too many turnovers there in the second half that we shouldn’t have had, but other than that, they played a really good second half.”
Cox also contrasted how the team played in the first and second halves of the game.
“I was disappointed in … our lack of enthusiasm in the first half,” he said. “And so, I think it’s just one of those deals where we just needed to get more focused about what we are supposed to be doing. You know, we need to be able to run the ball when everybody knows we’re going to run it. And so that’s something that we’ve worked hard on, and they did a good job of that in the second half, and we did a good job with our passing game as well. So totally different halves, but I’m super proud of our guys, and just happy to be two-and-one.”
This week, the Mt’neers travel to East Newton High School, where they will face the Patriots.