For the Daily Reporter
FORTVILLE — The worry was that the Marauders would be sluggish. With fall break interrupting established routine, Marauders coach Mike Kirschner had those thoughts.
It turns out he had nothing to worry about. Mt. Vernon jumped out on Shelbyville early and cruised to a 62-7 victory against the outmatched Golden Bears on Friday.
“I really like how we came out tonight,” Kirschner said. “With fall break and all of that going on, it’s always a concern that you could come out flat.”
That was not the case, as the Marauders poured on 41 first half points to comfortably put the game away before the halftime horn. Sophomore running back Rylan Cole used his speed to routinely burn the Bears on the outside. Senior tight end Max Burhenn was terrorizing the Bears on both sides of the ball, and Braxton Trittipo was providing highlights.
Cole opened the scoring after three carries for 30 yards on the opening drive, in which the Marauders were given a short field due to a fourth-down stop. Cole finished with 12 carries for 203 yards and three touchdowns.
His last carry of the night was an 89-yard touchdown run at the beginning of the third quarter that allowed him to rest from there on out.
The 89-yard touchdown was not the longest of the night, as Burhenn hauled in a 97-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tyson Harley in the second quarter. He also had a strip sack that gave the Marauders yet another short field.
Burhenn finished the game with 127 receiving yards and the aforementioned touchdown.
“Max really came out and played a great game on both sides of the ball,” Kirschner said. “That’s what you expect out of your seniors and he really showed that leadership tonight.”
With the game out of hand, Kirschner was still looking for lessons to impart.
“We had to really focus on finishing out this game after halftime,” Kirschner said. “Last year the team was 3-6 and we’ve got to learn to finish each game if we’re going to turn that around long term.”
The Marauders will get a chance to close the season out on a four-game winning streak next week, as they travel to Yorktown with a chance to finish as runners up in the competitive Hoosier Heritage Conference. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.
