LEXINGTON – The Mount Vernon defense demonstrated how to focus disappointment in a positive direction. The disappointment came after a thunderstorm put a halt to the Yellow Jackets’ opening game at Lexington Friday night, less than a quarter into gameplay.

When play resumed, Mount Vernon’s defense made big play after big play to keep the scoreboard clean and the Yellow Jackets defeated the Minutemen 14-0 in Ohio Cardinal Conference play Saturday evening.

“We wanted to stay out here last night and play through the storm,” senior lineman Nate Stradley said. “But because of the weather conditions, we had to stay inside. We were made, but we came out here and took it out on Lexington.”

Stradley teamed up with Gabe Harmon on a pair of sacks in the second quarter to keep the Minutemen at bay. The defense bent but didn’t break in the second half.

“It was nerve-wracking at times,” Mount Vernon coach Nate Hunt said. “We have great leadership on the defensive side of the ball. Ethan (Laslo is) our heart and soul. He never lets kids get down and there’s never any feeling sorry for ourselves. That’s the winning attitude that we talk about all of the time and these kids have it in spades.”

After a Lexington Jordan Beireis interception on Mount Vernon’s first series put the Minutemen in MV territory, linebacker Jesse Foster tackled Lexington quarterback Cole Pauley for a 2-yard loss on third-and-2 at the 28. The Minutemen turned it over on downs.

Beireis broke a 44-yard run on the next series and Lexington got as close as the 17-yard line. But Christian Brown sacked Pauley to force a missed 37-yard field goal by AJ Young.

Brayden Stoots caught an 18-yard pass from Pauley to get Lexington into MV territory again. But the Jacket defense forced a turnover on downs.

Jeremy Hunt caught a short pass from Pauley and pitched it to Stoots on a hook-and-lateral on the right sideline that went for 26 yards. A personal foul penalty took the play to the MV 37.

But Zach Thomas intercepted a deep pass by Pauley on the right sideline and weaved and spun his near midfield on the return to end yet another threat.

“Even if something bad happened, we kept telling each other ‘It’s o.k., let’s get the next one.’ That’s been Coach Kerr’s mentality this year,” Stradley said. “It’s family. Forget about me, I love you.”

The final series just put an exclamation point on the day. Foster blind-sided Pauley to force a fumble in the final two minutes that Stradley recovered and the Jackets ran out the clock from there.

The offense did its damage in the first half. Gavin Moyer caught a 21-yard screen pass from Britten Young, a senior quarterback making his first start, and Mount Vernon led 6-0 midway through the first quarter.

“I think he had some nerves and we got that first screen for the touchdown and I think a lot of those nerves went away,” Kerr said. “He made some big plays. Gavin is our leading receiver coming back and sometimes you don’t know he catches the ball. Balls that he shouldn’t catch, he somehow has a knack for coming up with them. Those two have a chemistry and they’ve been friends forever. So, it was nice to see them connect.”

AJ Keen’s 21-yard run set up Mount Vernon’s second score – a perfectly placed 34-yard pass from Young that Moyer caught in stride over the shoulder with 18 seconds left. Keen ran in the 2-point conversion out of the wildcat to give the Jackets a 14-0 lead at the break.

“That’s my quarterback,” Moyer said. “I’ve been waiting to play with him for over three years.”

Moyer caught five passes for 68 yards, including the two touchdowns and Keen rushed for 171 yards on 20 carries to lead the Jackets.

Next up, Mount Vernon continues OCC-play when it travels to Ashland Friday at 7 p.m.