MUNCIE — The Mt. Vernon Marauders and the Delta Eagles played a close game until the second half of their matchup Friday.
Delta’s 300-yard passing game wore down the Marauder defense resulting in a 45-14 Hoosier Heritage Conference victory for the Eagles.
The tone was set with a 47-yard pass from Delta in the second play of the game. While they were forced to punt on the first drive, they followed with a six-play, two-minute drive ending with a 36-yard pass in their second drive.
The Eagles had a total of 117 passing yards on the season before Friday. They nearly quadrupled it against Mt. Vernon.
“They threw the ball extremely well on us,” Mt. Vernon head coach Mike Kirschner said. “We developed the defense to stop the run. I thought we pretty good job of stopping the run most of the night, right there until the very end when we just ran out of gas.”
They stopped the run but couldn’t stop the passes.
They had their chance, though. After a Delta field goal, the Mt. Vernon offense started picking up speed in the second quarter with an 11-play drive that ended in a turnover on downs, but promptly followed with their first score of the night after they combined a quick succession of running and passing plays that ended in a 28-yard dart up the middle from Shaun Shipley, starting in place of Tyson Harley, to PJ Sterrett.
With the score at 10-6, things were looking up. Even more so after Marauder Rylan Cole snagged an interception off a tipped Eagle pass. The Marauders were perfectly set up at the Eagle 32-yard line. However, a 4-and-out left the game at 10-6 at halftime.
Their next chance came in the first drive of the second half before things fell apart. Dylan Cole charged down the field with 35 yards in three runs. The Marauders 15-play drive ended with a failed field goal attempt, though.
“We did some good things on offense,” Kirschner said. “The killer was we’re down 10-6, we drive down to their 10 getting ready to score and take the lead and we just don’t block.”
The next drive also ended just inches short of a first down.
Disappointment gave way to Eagle momentum. With five minutes left in the third quarter, they charged ahead with a touchdown and a pick six in the next two minutes. Mt. Vernon tried to rally with a 70-yard drive ending in a Shipley one-yard keeper. But Delta scored another one and followed this with a nail-in-the-coffin fourth quarter — a touchdown and their second pick six.
“We had two pick sixes, fumbled the ball, and ran the wrong routes,” Kirschner said. “We’re just not executing very well.”
Mt. Vernon ended with 146 passing yards and 174 rushing yards. Delta had 308 passing yards and 92 rushing yards. Dylan Cole finished with 74 rushing yards and Rylan Cole with 49. Cam Cole finished going 2-for-45 in receiving.
The Marauders drop to 2-3 and 1-2 in the conference. They play next at Pendleton Heights on Friday.
