After one quarter Friday, Oct. 6, in Fort Madison, the Mount Vernon Mustangs were on pace to win, 140-0.
Of course, No. 5 Mount Vernon didn’t do that. The continuous clock in the second half and Mustang Coach Lance Pedersen’s desire to play his reserves made sure that didn’t happen. Mount Vernon went on to win, 45-7.
“What a great night,” Pedersen said. “We really got after it, then didn’t play our starters in the second half.
“I was really happy with the way the first half went.”
It was a dominant performance against a team that may make the postseason in Class 3A.
“Going in, I was concerned,” Pedersen said. “We did a great job.”
Mount Vernon (6-1, 3-0 3AD4) scored each time it had the ball in the first quarter, and once when Fort Madison did.
Joey Rhomberg had three touchdown passes (two to Evan Brase and one to Watson Krob), Jackson Hird added a TD run, and Michael Ryan had a field-tilting 100-yard interception return for a touchdown, which set a school record.
“Any time the defense can score points, it is exciting,” Pedersen said.
Plus, a Bennett Harp field goal right before the half ended made it 38-0 at intermission.
“We got the ball back with 30-some seconds left, and ran our 2-minute drill,” Pedersen said. “We drove and converted that field goal.
“I don’t ever want to run the score up, but I thought it was important to get that.”
Rhomberg finished with 269 yards on 11-of-17 passing. Brase caught eight for 212 yards. Hird finished with 87 rushing yards on 10 carries.
“That’s from only two quarters … so think about what could have been,” Pedersen said. “Most of our starters only played a half, but we were happy to get a lot of kids quality minutes.”
Next up is a Senior Night clash with Washington (2-5, 1-2) at 7:15 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13.
Pedersen said it is a relief to be back at Armstrong Field with a “Pink Out” fight cancer night sandwiched between long, long road trips to Fort Madison and Keokuk.
“We’re excited to be back home,” Pedersen said.
Mustangs 45, Bloodhounds 7
TEAM STATS MV FM
First downs 16 7
Rushes-yds. 17-84 21-53
Cmp.-Att.-Int 11-20-1 9-23-1
Passing yds. 269 70
Fum.-list 0-0 0-0
Pen.-yds. 4-53 3-18
Punts-ave. 1-31.0 6-31.5
Mount Vernon 35 3 7 0 – 45
Fort Madison 0 0 0 7 – 7
MV – Evan Brase 10-yard pass from Joey Rhomberg (kick failed)
MV – Watson Krob 27-yard pass from Rhomberg (Brase pass from Rhomberg)
MV – Jackson Hird 9-yard run (kick failed)
MV – Brase 33-yard pass from Rhomberg (Brase pass from Rhomberg)
MV – Michael Ryan 100-yard interception return (Bennett Harp kick)
MV – Harp 18-yard field goal
MV – Kellen Haverback 1-yard run (Collin Crawford kick)
FM – Leif Boeding 24-yard pass from Caleb Bolander (Henry Graham kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing – MV: Jackson Hird 10-87, Cooper Hird 1-2, Kellen Haverback 1-1, Benny Pospisil 4-0, Michael Ryan 1-(-6). FM: Caleb Bolander 10-31, Hayden Segoviano 11 11-22.
Passing – MV: Joey Rhomberg 11-17-269-1, Kellen Haverback 0-3-0-0. FM: Caleb Bolander 7 9-23-70-1.
Receiving – MV: Evan Brase 8-212, Watson Krob 2-37, Ethan Wood 1-20. FM: Leif Boeding 4-49, Cade Denning 2-21, Henry Morris 1-4, Noah Swigart 1-0, Hayden Segoviano 1-(-4).
Tackles (solo-assist-total) – Tyler Williams 7-3-8.5, Nova Lnae 3-1-3.5, Miles Francois 1-5-3.5, Jase Jaspers 3-0-3, Jackson Jaspers 1-4-3, Michael Ryan 2-1-2.5, Jackson Hird 2-1-2.5, Cooper Hird 2-0-2, Benny Pospisil 2-0-2, Jaks Lee 1-0-1, Evan Brase 0-2-1, Ethan Wood 0-2-1, Kellen Haverback 0-1-.5, Paul Goslin 0-1-.5, Ethan Plotz 0-1-.5, Jonah Williams 0-1-.5, Kael Riniker 0-1-.5.
Mount Vernon overpowers Fort Madison
October 12, 2023
About the Contributor
Ryan Suchomel, Sports Reporter
Ryan Suchomel is a sports reporter for the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun.