FORTVILLE — Last week was the first time in a long time. This week, it was the first time ever.
Mt. Vernon got big plays on offense — both on the ground and through the air — defense and special teams to defeat Indianapolis Roncalli, 25-17, in a Class 4A Regional Championship game at Hancock Health Stadium on Friday.
The Marauders (11-2) will play at Evansville Memorial (11-1), a 17-14 winner over Mooresville, next week.
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It is the Marauders first regional title in school history. They were 0-4 in regional games prior to Friday’s victory. Last week, Mt. Vernon beat rival Pendleton Heights, 21-14, to win the program’s first sectional in seven years.
“We kind of threw that out to our kids,” Mt. Vernon coach Mike Kirschner said. “Don’t be satisfied with the sectional. That was our fifth in school history. Let’s make history. Let’s do something that all the other teams now look up and say, ‘I want to be a Mt. Vernon Marauder and I want to win a regional.’”
Mt. Vernon led early, trailed in the second quarter and then took the lead for good when sophomore quarterback Gehrig Slunaker connected with senior wide receiver Dawan Langston on a 55-yard scoring play with 8:48 remaining in the quarter. Rylan Cole scored on a two-point conversion to give the Marauders a 15-9 lead.
It was the second big pass play of the night for the Marauders.
On the game’s opening drive, which started at the Mt. Vernon 37 thanks to the first of two 30-plus yard kickoff returns by Lazavier Heard, Slunaker hooked up with sophomore wide receiver Ashden Gentry for a 51-yard completion. It was just the third play of the game. Three plays later, Shaun Shipley scored on a 1-yard run.
It was the second straight week Slunaker had connected on big plays with Langston and Gentry. Last week, Langston had six receptions for 173 yards. Gentry had a 37-yard reception to set up the game-winning score against the Arabians.
Gentry said he thought the Rebels paying more attention to Langston helped lead to the game’s first big play.
“They put the safety over top of Dawan Langston because he’s so fast,” Gentry said. “I had a linebacker guarding me, so I basically was one-on-one with him straight up the middle. It was just a huge play, a great throw by Slunaker.
“I can’t even describe this feeling,” Gentry added on the win. “To be the first-ever regional champion to come out of this school is just crazy.”
After Mt. Vernon led early, Roncalli scored the next nine points.
The Rebels had moved the ball into Mt. Vernon territory when the drive was halted by a Cole interception at the Mt. Vernon 3. It was junior’s seventh interception of the season. Things quickly turned back in favor of Roncalli. On the next play, Rebel Owen Volk tackled Shaun Shipley in the end zone for a safety.
With just 1:03 left in the first quarter, Roncalli took the lead, 9-7, on a Aidan Leffler to Ryan Papandria 24-yard pass play.
The Marauders may have regained the lead through the air, but they put an exclamation point on it with the run game.
After kicker AJ Swingle made it a two score game, 18-9, with an 18-yard field goal just before the half, sophomore running back Keagan LaBelle had the bulk of the work for the Marauders next scoring drive.
LaBelle, who finished, unofficially, with 15 carries for 94 yards, had six carries for 42 yards on a 10-play, 64-yard drive. He wrapped it up with a 1-yard touchdown run on fourth down. All 10 plays of the drive were rushes. LaBelle’s score with Swingle’s PAT made it 25-9 with :32.9 left in the third quarter.
LaBelle had two runs of 25 yards or more. The first one led to the Swingle field goal. The second came on the LaBelle-led scoring drive.
“The O-line was key. They came up big on a few of our inside zone plays,” LaBelle said. “I just kept running the ball hard.
“Winning (this game) is probably the best feeling I’ve had in my life. I want to do this every time on the field.”
Roncalli cut it to 25-17 with 7:51 to go after Leffler scored on a nine-yard run. He completed a pass to Kyle Lockard for the two-point conversion.
The Marauders got key plays from their defense and special teams to close things out.
Gentry intercepted a pass with under three minutes remaining at the Roncalli 38. After the ensuing drive stalled, Mt. Vernon punter Joel Ratliff pinned the Rebels deep at their own 3. Roncalli could only get to its own 35 before turning the ball over on downs.
The defense had two interceptions and a sack, by junior Mekhi Richmond. Heavy pressure on Lefler led to Gentry’s pick.
“Our defense played really, really well tonight,” Kirschner said. “We came up with big plays when we needed to.”
“We were all flying around and we were all energized,” Richmond said. “We were ready to play and we were ready to win and that’s what we did out there today.”
The win is Mt. Vernon’s eighth straight. It hasn’t lost since a 27-10 defeat at the hands of Delta on Sept. 20.
Mt. Vernon last played in a regional championship game in 2012, losing to Cathedral, 41-7. It was the second time the Marauders and Rebels played for a regional title. In 1999, Roncalli beat Mt. Vernon 27-6.
It was the Marauders turn to win on Friday.
“This is crazy. I have never felt like this before,” Slunaker said. “I just hope we can continue this journey for two more weeks.”
