MOUNT VERNON – As the Mount Vernon Yellow Jacket Colt football teams looked on, their high school counterparts tried to light up the field with big plays and fireworks.
However, that show fizzled out before the first half ended.
After two long touchdowns by Jonny Askew, the Jackets could muster little else Friday as the previously winless Ashland Arrows coasted to a 35-17 Ohio Cardinal Conference victory at Yellow Jacket Stadium.
Askew, a sophomore, scored a pair of field-length touchdowns each time he touched the ball in the first quarter. On Mount Vernon’s second play from scrimmage, Askew swept right and squirted through two would-be tacklers, then sprinted ahead for a 73-yard score.
On the kickoff following Ashland’s first touchdown, Askew took a lateral at the 1-yard line and sailed untouched to another touchdown. The return sparked one of the loudest crowd reactions in memory, as it established a record for the longest play in Yellow Jacket Stadium history.
Askew finished with 251 total yards, including 89 yards on rushes and 122 on returns.
“We were trying everything to get him (Askew) the ball,” Mount Vernon coach Mike Kerr said. “He’s a special young man. Not just a football player, but a special kid. He’s the nicest, most humble team-first kid you’ll ever meet.”
Following a two-point conversion, the Jackets led, 15-7. However, there would be little reason for the fans to cheer from that point on.
Ashland (1-4, 1-0 OCC) went on to score the next 21 points over the next two-plus quarters. Two touchdowns came on short carries by Cayden Spotts, while a third came from a 10-yard pass from Landon McFrederick to Grayson Steury.
Two of those 21 points came in a bizarre end to the first half, after Mount Vernon’s defense stopped Ashland on four plays inside the 2-yard line. With three seconds to go, quarterback Joel Hubbard, who had no room to take a knee, opted to heave the ball down the field to kill the clock. However, the officials – seeing no eligible receiver – flagged the Jackets for intentional grounding in the end zone and awarded Ashland a safety.
In the second half, history was repeated, as Mount Vernon (1-4, 0-1) drove to the 1 but was stopped on four plays. Ashland was tackled in the end zone on its first play from scrimmage. However, the Jackets fumbled the ensuing free kick, and the Arrows recovered.
“We have kids that never quit, and they didn’t quit tonight,” Kerr said. “We do something really good, then something bad happens, and we just can’t build momentum. That’s been the story of our season.”
Mount Vernon honored its Colt football teams at halftime, introducing both Big Colt and Little Colt teams as well as its six flag football teams. The Little Cheer squad helped the high school cheerleaders throughout the game.
