The Shelbyville News
SHELBYVILLE — Mt. Vernon wasted little time on Friday securing its fourth Hoosier Heritage Conference win of the season in a 52-0 road victory at Shelbyville.
The Marauders led 45-0 at halftime, forcing the Golden Bears into a pair of safeties while spreading the ball around on offense in an impressive first half.
Marauders’ junior running back Rylan Cole finished with 141 rushing yards and three touchdowns on eight carries, all coming in the first half, to lead Mt. Vernon (6-2, 4-2 HHC). He had scoring runs of seven, 10 and 62 yards before halftime.
The Marauders also received two touchdown passes from sophomore starting quarterback Gehrig Slunaker. His first touchdown pass went 66 yards to senior wide receiver Dawan Langston, which gave the team a 16-0 lead with 6:16 to play in the first quarter. Slunaker also found sophomore receiver Ashden Gentry for a 28-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.
Cole, who also plays defense, had an interception before halftime, picking off Shelbyville’s (0-8, 0-6 HHC) senior quarterback Riley Stevens. Mt. Vernon recovered three fumbles in the game but coughed the ball up three times of its own on a wet and cold night for football.
After halftime, which was played with a running clock, Mt. Vernon was able to score a rushing touchdown in the third quarter with several non-starters in the game.
Mt. Vernon will return home next week to host Yorktown in its season finale. The Tigers are also 6-2 and 4-2 in the HHC after beating Pendleton Heights 15-6 on Friday. Shelbyville wraps up its regular season against the Arabians next week.
New Palestine remains atop the conference standings at 6-0 after a 68-6 win over New Castle Friday. Delta, which beat Greenfield Central 77-0 Friday, has one loss in the HHC. Pendleton Heights has three losses behind Mt. Vernon and Yorktown.
