Despite a fine showing in front of a lovely home crowd, Mt. Vernon fell 36-14 to Newark on Friday night.
Newark jumped out to a quick start, earning a 10-0 lead after the first quarter and ended the game with 19 unanswered points to seal the victory and a 2-0 start to the year.
Mt. Vernon cut the early lead to 10-7 on a Jake Taylor touchdown, but was unable to sustain the momentum.
Taylor was 16-of-33 for 172 yards and a touchdown, but struggled with four interceptions. He also added a 79-yard rushing of 16 carries.
Jackets senior receiver Luke Hubbard caught eight balls for 76 yards.
Mt. Vernon sinks to 0-2 after tough losses in each of the first two weeks. The Jackets will look for their first win next week when they host Hayes.
"We're just going to get prepared," said senior running back and corner Hayden Higgins. "If someone is down, we're going to pick them up. It doesn't matter what's on the scoreboard, we are a four-quarter team."
