In the space of a few minutes, the Mount Vernon Yellow Jackets showed their fans just what kind of team they will be in 2021.
The Jackets, down by 14 to visiting Marion Harding with time running out on Friday, fought back with a pair of late TD passes. That put the Jackets to within a point of the Presidents. With 13 seconds on the clock, the Jackets chose to go for the 2-point conversion and the win, but they failed to convert on a pass and lost to the Presidents, 28-27, in the season opener for both teams at Yellow Jacket Stadium.
Mount Vernon had the option to kick a 1-point conversion to tie the score at 28. That, however, would not have been in keeping with the character of the team.
“We put ourselves right where we needed to be,” Mount Vernon Coach Mike Kerr said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way on the 2-point conversion, but I asked our kids, ‘Do you want to tie it or do you want to go for two?’ Our leaders said, ‘All or nothing. This is who we are.’”
The Jackets had fallen behind, 28-14, after giving up a pair of touchdown passes from Harding quarterback Brady Wink (1-for-21, 178 yards) to receivers Wesley Stokes for 10 yards and Kaeden Faggs for 67 yards. Jackets’ quarterback Joel Hubbard, who couldn’t seem to find anybody with his passes for the first three quarters, went 4-for-5 in the final quarter. That included a pair of touchdown passes. The first was a 66-yard bomb to teammate Dylan Dowell with 4:26 left in the game. Then, with 1:10 remaining, the defense stopped Harding on fourth down to get the ball back on their 22-yard line with 1:16 left in the game. The Jackets worked their way into Harding territory and then, Hubbard tossed a pass to Rylan Firebaugh for a 43-yard touchdown.
“I’m really proud of the effort that these guys put in,” Kerr said. “Sometimes, things aren’t going to go our way, and we have to keep fighting and battling. The kids responded. We have great leadership on this team. We were going down with some cramping, and it was a hot night. We were losing guys, and we had guys who were playing somewhat out of position, but our guys kept fighting.”
Hubbard, who was 5-for-17 passing, for 167 yards, had three touchdown passes with two interceptions. His other touchdown pass came in the opening quarter when he found Jonny Askew (three receptions, 62 yards) in the right side of the endzone with a 25-yard scoring pass. Hubbard even carried the ball 17 times for 89 yards in the game. That included a touchdown with less than five minutes left in the third quarter. His 1-yard scoring run gave Mount Vernon their only lead of the game, 14-13.
“We came out with more of a mellow mindset in the first quarter,” Hubbard said. “We weren’t throwing the ball, just running it. Our team is built on the run, but when we get the pass down, it’s a whole different ballgame. In that fourth quarter, I knew what had to be done, and everyone on our team did their job.”
The Jackets had 296 ground yards with Even Owens leading the way with 26 carries for 132 yards. Askew had 60 yards on 44 carries for the Jackets.
Wink ran the ball for 86 of his team’s 115 ground yards, preferring to throw the ball. Harding gained a total of 226 yards through the air, including three TD passes by Wink. Their other score came on a pick-6 by Malaki Robinson, who scored from the Mount Vernon 45 yard line, midway through the third quarter.
There was no remorse from any of the Jackets’ players about attempting the 2-point conversion and forgoing a game-tying kick at the end.
“It’s all or nothing on our team,” Hubbard said. “We don’t come away with a tie.”
In other area non-league football, Fredericktown lost 54-8 to visiting Clear Fork. Centerburg topped visiting Utica, 40-14. East Knox opened at home, knocking off Northridge, 22-8.
Lucas beat host Danville, 34-20, and Bloom Carroll thumped host Highland, 49-17.
