Jackets set for finale

“The number one thing is the seniors want to go out with a win,” said Mount Vernon coach Mike Kerr. “They remember two years ago when we beat West Holmes. They saw the emotion the seniors had. They want that same emotion.”

To do that, they’ll have to stop a West Holmes squad that has plenty of young talent. The Knights (3-6 overall, 1-4 Ohio Cardinal Conference) are averaging 35 points a game in their last five contests.

“They are very young, but have a ton of potential,” Kerr said. “They’ve got some really good athletes, especially at receiver. They throw the ball all over the field.”

Noah Clark is the gunslinger at quarterback for the Knights. He has an arsenal of weapons in Garrett Estep, Peyton McKinney and Brady Taylor.

While their record isn’t the best, the Knights have been in several ballgames, losing tight ones to Lexington, Wooster and Tuslaw. They will be coming off a 49-24 loss to Ashland, though.

The Jackets will also be coming off a tough loss, 34-14 to Mansfield Senior. While the score doesn’t show it, the Jackets played the Tygers tough the last three quarters of the game and learned a lot from it, Kerr said.

“Their (Mansfield) speed was obviously a big issue. When the kids saw (on film) they were in the right spot, they did not get beat,” Kerr said. “Even if they are faster, if we read our keys, we can stop them. We did that in the second half (against Mansfield) and have to learn from that this week.”

Mount Vernon will look to its physicality to set the tone against the Knights. The Jackets will turn to their all-world running back Wyatt Gregory to keep the ball away from the high-powered Knights.

Gregory set the Mount Vernon single-season rushing record last week in the loss to Mansfield. He now has 1,845 yards, one more than former record holder J.D. Orr.

“Wyatt is a special running back. He’s really turned the corner and made huge strides,” Kerr said. “If we combine a physical and attacking offensive line with a special talent, it makes us tough to stop.

“Offensively, we’ve got to set the tone early and put some points on the board. That way we can keep the pressure on them.” They’ve got five different hitters. They really just put a lot of pressure on you. I think we do the same thing, but maybe we run a little faster tempo than they do. So it may be just a battle of wills there. I don’t doubt that it’ll be a five-set match like this was. We just want to go after it. We have an opportunity. We are one match from state and that’s what we’re after.”