First victory over powerhouse Lamar in 15 years; look to homecoming contest Friday against Cassville Wildcats
On Friday, September 27, at Thomas O’Sullivan Stadium in Lamar, the Mt. Vernon Mt’neers beat the Lamar Tigers to get their fourth win of the season. For the Mt. Vernon team, the game was especially important because it was the first time in 15 years that they had beaten the Tigers.
Mt’neers get first touchdown, lead by end of half
Around the middle of the first quarter, the Mt’neers scored the first touchdown. Braden Dodson scored the touchdown, ending their first 81-yard offensive play. After that, Landon Popa made a PAT, which made the score 7-0.
After that, Lamar scored a touchdown but forgot to kick the extra point. At the end of the quarter, they scored a second touchdown. They tried to add two points, but the Mountaineers stopped it, leaving the score 12–7 at the end of the first quarter.
When Dodson scored his second touchdown of the game near the beginning of the second quarter, the Mt’neers took back the lead. After the break, Gavin Johnston completed a pass to Juliun Hernandez for a two-point conversion, which made the score 15–12.
The Tigers scored their third touchdown almost right away, but the Mt’neers blocked their second-point try, as the score went from 18 to 15.
After going back on defence, the Tigers picked off the Mountaineers and stopped their drive. The Mt’neers, on the other hand, made the Tigers punt near the end of the quarter. On their next offensive play, Dodson scored his third touchdown of the night. It failed to add two points, and at the end of the half, the score was 21–18, with Mt. Vernon ahead.
Mt’neers keep, extend lead in second half
During the second part of the game, the Mt’neers kept the lead over the Tigers. After getting the ball, they were penalised and had to move to their own 11-yard line. However, Johnston made a 41-yard pass to Coy Felton, which put them on the 49-yard line of the Tigers.
At first, it was hard for the Mt’neers to get through the Tigers’ defence. But on fourth down and nine yards to go from the Tigers’ 39-yard line, the team decided to go for it on offence instead of kicking. It worked out.
The team moved to the 10-yard line after Johnston made a 29-yard pass to Jarrett Zerby. Dodson then ran all the way into the end zone, and Popa made another PAT to make the score 28–18.
At about the middle of the quarter, Lamar scored their own touchdown, but their try at a PAT failed. The Mountaineers, on the other hand, scored almost right away when Johnston made a 59-yard touchdown pass to Grayson Gann. After that, Popa made another PAT, which made the score 35–24.
The Mt’neers made the Tigers turn the ball over on downs near the end of the quarter and went back on offence. Johnston threw a touchdown pass of 22 yards to Hudson Gaddy with only seconds left in the quarter.
Popa then made another PAT, this time it worked, making the score 42–24 at the end of the quarter. There was one more touchdown for the Tigers in the fourth quarter, and they added two points to make the score 42–32. However, the Mt’neers won the game.
Victory important milestone for Mt’neers
Head coach of the Mountaineers, Tom Cox, said the win was important for the team in two ways.
Lamar hasn’t beaten us since 2009, and we didn’t play them every year during that time. But still, it’s been that long since we beat them. We played these seniors when they were freshmen, and it had been 1,091 days since then. We had been waiting for this day.
Cox said that the Mt’neers’ “selfless” teamwork and the strength of the team led to their win.
“While the wide receivers were running their route, they knew they weren’t going to catch the ball, but they did their best to open up someone else, which is something we did a lot on the field.” Also, these linemen were blocking and working together on the line of play, and I was so proud of our team. We didn’t give up. Our grit was really strong, and we showed that we were tough mentally.
Homecoming Friday
The Mt’neers will play the Cassville Wildcats in their homecoming game this Friday at Mt’neer Stadium.