Mt’neers football hold off East Newton

The Mt. Vernon High School football team traveled to east Newton on Friday, Oct. 2 and came back with a 10-8 victory over the Patriots.
 
The Mt’neers scored first on a Matt Hodgson to Griffin Cordray passing play to take a 7-0 first quarter lead. That would remain the score at the half. East Newton put eight points on the board in the third quarter to take the lead 8-7. Mt. Vernon would kick a field goal by Brennan Diaz in the fourth quarter to secure the 10-8 win.
 
Hodgson paced the Mt’neers with 58 yards passing and a touchdown, Cordray had 101 yards on six catches with a touchdown and Memphis Montgomery had 63 yards on 13 carries for the game.
 
“It was an ugly win,” said head coach Tom Cox. “But it was a win, nonetheless. We got behind late but kept battling. Kudos to our offensive line, our long snapper Jackson Collier, our holder Hodgson and our kicker Diaz for the game winning field goal. Lamar is 6-0 and looking to avenge losses at our hands the last two years. We’ll have to play well.”
 
Mt. Vernon is 3-3 on the season and will play at Class 2, third-ranked Lamar this Friday. The Mt’neers currently sit in fourth place in the Class 3, District 6 standings with 33 points. Cassville leads the district with 44.67 points, followed by Seneca (41.83 points), Nevada (35.83 points), Mt. Vernon, Reeds Spring (20.67 points), Aurora (17.17 points) and Hollister (13.07 points).
 
Volleyball
 
The Lady Mt’neers volleyball team hosted the October Aces Tournament on Saturday, Oct. 3.
 
Mt. Vernon defeated Camdenton and Cassville 2-0 and East Newton 2-1, lost to Clever 0-2 and tied Glendale and Branson 1-1. 
 
On Thursday, Oct. 1, the Lady Mt’neers hosted East Newton and won the game in three sets, 25-15, 25-17 and 25-19. Ziah Schmutz led with 10 kills and 15 assists, Savannah Dampf and Elli Eddington added 10 kills each and Ruth Fish led with 13 assists.
 
Mt. Vernon began their week by traveling to Monett and winning in four sets, 25-22, 25-13, 17-25 and 25-19. Schmutz led with 25 kills and added 13 assists, Eddington had 11 kills, Claire Hale led with 20 digs and Fish led with 25 assists.
 
The Lady Mt’neers are 14-7-5 on the season and were scheduled to play at Aurora on Monday and McDonald County last night.