By Ben McGuire
Forget about Solon; forget last week’s mistakes, the mental errors, the special team’s mishaps, forget all of it. The Mustangs are back! Mount Vernon bounced back from a 19-0 loss to Solon back on Aug. 25, with a 24-21 come from behind victory against West Delaware last Friday.
“We started the season off with two 3A teams ranked in the top 10 in the state, it was a terrible schedule for us,” said head coach Lance Pedersen. While the Mustangs did not look strong on opening night verse Solon, they showed significant growth in their come from behind win against West Delaware. “Every mistake we made against Solon was fixable,” Pedersen said. “Our teams here at Mount Vernon have such great character, they could have given up so many times this week and last but refused to do so.”
The Mustangs trailed 24-16 in the 4th quarter before quarterback Drew Adams connected with receiver Matt Gearhart for a long touchdown pass to put the team up 24-21 after converting on a two-point attempt.
Matt Gearhart had the first real breakout game of his career. He caught three passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns. “We didn’t let last week’s loss define us,” said Gearhart. “We came back this week, fought hard, and were able to come away with the win.”
Many players were looking to have a better performance against West Delaware. Quarterback Drew Adams, who had a rough night against Solon, came back strong this week with 250 yards passing along with two touchdowns. Some other notable performers were running back/middle linebacker Colden Clark who rushed for 142 yards and a score, along with nine tackles on defense. Junior back Paul Ryan rushed for 66 yards, senior receiver Cale Snedden had 51 yards receiving, and junior defensive back Mitchell Louwagie had 6.5 tackles and a tackle for loss.
Mount Vernon looks ahead to tonight’s matchup against a Camanche team that has had two blowout losses against Bellevue and Monticello. While Camanche doesn’t seem to pose much of a threat to such a talented Mount Vernon roster, the Mustangs won’t be taking the lightly. “Camanche is the next game on our schedule, and that makes it the biggest game on our schedule,” senior lineman John Butz said. The Mustangs look forward for another opportunity to continue to get better, work hard, and compete. They face off against Camanche tonight at 7:30.
