MOUNT VERNON – The Mount Vernon defense will have to contend with one of central Ohio's top rushers when the Division II, Region 7 football playoffs open at Yellow Jacket Stadium on Friday night.
The Yellow Jackets' foe Canal Winchester features Stephan Byrd, who has multiple offers from Division I schools according to Rivals.com and 247sports.com. The junior has amassed 806 yards and nine touchdowns on 97 carries with Canal this season, including a 13-carry, 164-yard, three-touchdown game against Delaware Hayes on Oct. 2.
He has a lethal combination of size, quickness, agility and a great ability to reverse directions. He carries the biggest load on offense.
“Looking at their running back (Byrd) on film, he is one of the best that we’ve seen,” Mount Vernon coach Mike Kerr said. “He’s a load. I don’t know how many yards he has, but he’s an awesome football player.”
Byrd has added a pass-catching ability out of the backfield the last couple of weeks. He has seven receptions for 169 yards and a pair of touchdowns, with all but seven of those yards coming in the last two games.
The Yellow Jackets will be looking to rebound, after stumbling to a 17-7 loss against Mansfield Senior.
The Jackets (2-3, 2-3) are looking to maintain possession of the football, but they will also need to find ways to score.
Mount Vernon was dealt a big blow when they lost pulling guard and senior leader Robbie Snyder two weeks ago. They are also making adjustments to help running back A.J. Keen as he continues to play while wearing a cast on his broken left hand. For the most part, Keen is shrugging off the injury as he focuses on facing Canal Winchester.
“We’re going to have longer practices this week,” Keen said, who led the Jackets with 47 rushing yards against Mansfield Senior. “We’re probably going to be putting in more stuff to counter what (Canal Winchester) is doing.”
Keen will need to wear a cast on his injured left hand for a couple more weeks at least.
“It’s a struggle; but It’s alright, I guess,” Keen said. “I can still hold the ball. Handoffs are good. I just have to focus on using my right hand a little more.”
The Jackets want to improve on some numbers this week. They had less than 100 total yards, converted on only two of 14 third-down situations and they committed nine penalties for 61 yards against Mansfield Senior.
Mount Vernon also wants to see quarterback Britten Long connect on a few more touchdown passes. Last week, he was 9 of 18 for 57 yards. His 3-yard toss to Jesse Bayless in the first quarter accounted for the Jackets’ lone score.
Canal Winchester features Reese Musick at quarterback and has senior receivers like Andre Heglar, Graham Snider and Chris Hupka to keep defenders off balance.
The Jackets aren’t letting Canal Winchester’s 2-4 record fool them.
“They have a really tough schedule,” Kerr said. “They’re a really sound football team everywhere. They’re big up front. They really stop the run— or try to."
*CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Stephan Byrd was committed to play football at the University of Michigan.
