FORTVILLE — Mt. Vernon football coach Mike Kirschner will experience a first in his long coaching career tonight.
He’s never faced a wishbone offense before. He’s seen the wing-T, variations of the option, and midline veer teams as head coach at Ben Davis, but he and his teams have never faced a true wishbone attack.
That changes tonight against Greenfield-Central.
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The Cougars made the switch to the rare offense this season under new coach Travis Nolting, giving the Marauders an added layer of complexity in a big county and conference rivalry game tonight in Greenfield.
“It’s a different look for us. It’s different coaching for us, and alignments and assignments,” Kirschner said. “They do it well. They’re getting better each week, you can see it. Their kids are playing with more confidence, so it’s going to be a problem. The problem is, and that’s why Travis runs it, it’s a problem for us to duplicate it in practice, it’s a problem for us to get a scout team to run a wishbone offense in three days when they’ve been doing it since spring ball.”
The Marauders defense will need to be more focused, more disciplined against an offense they’ve never seen before.
“We just have to pay attention to details and know where our job assignments are so we can make the right play at the right time,” senior linebacker and offensive lineman Charlie Moore said.
The name of the game for the Cougars is patience. While the Marauders are making adjustments this week, learning how to defend against a unique rushing offense, the hosts have been focused on the fundamentals and trying to get better each day.
Greenfield-Central hasn’t won a game since Sept. 30, 2017, long before Nolting arrived and with a very different roster. Last year’s 0-10 season was a grind, but the Cougars are in the midst of a culture shift similar to what Mt. Vernon went through last year in Kirschner’s first season in Fortville.
“We’ve just really focused on fundamentals and basics,” Nolting said. “The biggest thing that’s probably different for these kids than in the past is we’re not constantly changing things to try to chase a win or try to find a gimmick. We’ve got a direction, we’re sticking to the direction, so we’re just really focused on fundamentals.”
The degree of difficulty has been high for the Cougars, who opened the season with two straight games against Class 5A opponents that were both ranked in the top 20 of the coaches poll.
It doesn’t get any easier tonight against the Marauders, who are 2-0 and have a different offense than what the Cougars have seen so far this season.
In their two losses, against Whiteland and Plainfield, Greenfield-Central has only had eight passes thrown against its defense. Mt. Vernon has thrown 46 times and run 56 times, so the Cougars pass defense will likely be truly tested for the first time this season.
“Mt. Vernon, it’s obviously a different animal than we’ve faced the last couple of weeks,” Nolting said. “They’re still very well-coached, a very good program, but man, we went through some buzzsaws, Week 1 and 2. It’s just a process for us to try to get this off the ground.”
The Greenfield-Central defense will see a familiar face on the other end of the field, as Mt. Vernon sophomore Gehrig Slunaker will share quarterback duties with senior Shaun Shipley.
Slunaker was the Cougars’ starting quarterback as a freshman before his family moved and he transferred to Mt. Vernon. He still keeps in touch with some of his former teammates.
“I’m extremely excited, but then again, it’s just another week,” Slunaker said of facing his former team. “Take it just as any week. There is that factor, it’s there, but I’m just excited.”
The Marauders faced a balanced offense in their opener and a run-heavy Richmond team last week, but neither really does much to prepare them for what the Cougars will do with the wishbone.
They may be undersized and inexperienced in the wishbone, but the Cougars have found some success so far this season, averaging 4.0 yards per carry and rushing for 169 yards per game. They’ve only attempted a handful of passes this fall and haven’t completed one yet.
“We’re all really aggressive, which is what we need in the wishbone. We just crash the waves into the rocks until we slowly break it apart,” senior linebacker and fullback Bradon Nelson said. “I think it’s the true grit that most of us have, that coach has really been trying to build in us. It doesn’t matter how big or small we are, we’ve just got to keep fighting and drive all the way down the field.”
The teams have traded wins the past two years, with the Cougars winning the 2017 contest and the Marauders taking last year’s game.
Both were blowouts — 27-0 in favor of Greenfield-Central and 56-21 in favor of Mt. Vernon — but both teams are looking forward to colliding with their rival.
“They understand that 15 minutes up the road, we have to run into those guys,” Kirschner said. “If you’ve got to do something special to get them fired up, to play somebody that’s right next to you for bragging rights in the area, then you’re probably in the wrong sport.”
This year, unlike the last two, the teams are potential sectional opponents again, adding another layer of intrigue to tonight’s game.
“We just take it day by day and try to take another step, each and every day,” Slunaker said. “We’re just trying to send a message to another sectional opponent, conference and county opponent.”
The Cougars are hoping to send a message of their own despite their 0-2 start and 15-game losing streak.
“We’re definitely ready. We’ve been prepping all week,” Nelson said. “We’ve been looking forward to this game since day one, getting back at ‘em.”
“We’re very fired up. We’re going to come out ready to play,” Cougars quarterback Lance McKee said. “They’re going to get a game, for sure.”
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Eastern Hancock (2-0) at Fountain Central (0-2), 7 p.m.
Mt. Vernon (2-0) at Greenfield-Central (0-2), 7:30 p.m.
Yorktown (2-0) at New Palestine (2-0), 7:30 p.m.
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New Palestine running back Charlie Spegal is set to make state history tonight against Yorktown, as he enters the game with 8,099 career rushing yards, just 11 shy of the all-time Indiana record.
Indiana’s Top 5 Career Rushers
Rank, Name;School;Yards
1. Sammy Mireles;Elwood;8,110
2. Charlie Spegal;New Palestine;8,099
3. Markell Jones;Columbus East;7,930
4. Otis Shannon;Cathedral;7,560
5. Jack Kiser;Pioneer;7,364
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