FORTVILLE — The Mt. Vernon senior class didn’t see this coming.
They didn’t see a 10-win season, which is just the fourth in program history. They didn’t see a sectional championship, the school’s first since 2012. At least they didn’t see it happening when they were in middle school.
“I never would have expected it,” said senior quarterback Shaun Shipley, who scored a pair of touchdowns in a 21-14 come-from-behind victory over Pendleton Heights in the Class 4A Sectional 21 championship at Hancock Health Stadium on Friday.
“When we were in middle school, our class won two games and we were horrible. The juniors, I’m pretty sure they won just two games (in middle school), as well,” Shipley said. “We just weren’t any good then. We’ve come a long way since.
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“Coach (Mike) Kirschner and the weight room has helped us a ton and the rest of the coaching staff, too. They’ve done a really good job getting us together.”
A head coach for two state championship teams at Ben Davis, Kirschner knows the feeling his players were experiencing for the first time. In 17 seasons prior to coming to Mt. Vernon, he’d been part of 11 sectional championship teams.
“For this whole team, it’s a first and that’s why it’s important,” Kirschner, in his second season at Mt. Vernon, said. “I know it would have been just as important to (Pendleton Heights)."
The Arabians have not won a sectional since 2011.
“Just getting these kids to experience something like this that will last a lifetime … and there are only three other teams in the whole history that have had 10 wins," Kirschner added. "They’re in elite company when you think about 50 or 60 some years of football and you’re one of four teams that have won 10 games in a season.”
Mt. Vernon trailed 7-0 at halftime and 14-7 late in the third quarter.
Its first lead of the game came with just 2:32 remaining. Shipley, who plays quarterback in the Marauders goal line, and some short-yardage situations, scored on a 2-yard run. A.J. Swingle added his third PAT to make it 21-14.
While Shipley was handling a lot of the run calls from the quarterback position, it was sophomore Gehrig Slunaker leading the way through the air. He connected on a number of big plays to receivers Dawan Langston and Ashden Gentry.
A 46-yard touchdown pass to Langston on the final play of the third quarter tied the score, 14-14.
It was the third big-play connection between the young quarterback and senior receiver. Earlier in the drive, the pair hooked up for a 50-yard completion. On the final play of the first half, Langston beat an Arabian defender for a 53-yard gain, but the senior’s momentum took him out of bounds at the PH 7 as the half came to an end.
“This is something I’ve always wanted to do,” Langston said of winning a sectional championship. “We all did it together. The coaches just kept pushing us.
“(Slunaker) is such a good quarterback. I dusted their corner and he just threw me the ball and I was open.”
Prior to the go-ahead score, Slunaker, on a third-and-11 play from the PH 39, found Gentry — like Slunaker a sophomore — for a 37-yard gain to the Arabian 2.
Slunaker was unofficially 12-of-17 for 258 yards.
"It gets them out of the box," Kirschner said of his team’s ability to have success in the passing game. "They started changing their front between a 50 and a 40 front and that kind of messed some things up. By throwing it, it slowed them down up front and helped us run the ball a little better."
The teams were scoreless until the final minute of the first half.
Pendleton Heights senior quarterback Kirby Hess went 4-of-4 on the Arabians third and final drive of the first half. His last two connections were with junior Tyler McKinley. An 8-yard strike from Hess to McKinley with 17 seconds left until halftime was the game’s first score. Nick Taylor’s PAT put the Arabians up 7-0.
A Pendleton Heights fumble set up Mt. Vernon’s first score. Starting from the Arabians’ 20, Slunaker, on third-and-10, hit Gentry on a 19-yard pass play. Shipley took it from there with the 1-yard sneak to tie the game, 7-7, with 3:36 left in the third.
The Arabians had a quick answer. Hess had runs of 11 and 31 yards, then added the go-ahead score on a 5-yard keeper with 54.7 seconds left in the quarter.
After MV tied it on the long pass play to Langston, Pendleton Heights got to the Mt. Vernon 40, but on fourth-and-two, an offensive lineman moved early. Instead of going for it on fourth down, the Arabians punted.
Pendleton Heights got the ball back twice after Mt. Vernon’s go-ahead score, but turned it over both times. Rylan Cole had an interception. The Arabians fumbled on their final possession.
"This is honestly one of the best feelings I’ve ever had in my life," Cole said of winning the championship. "We worked so hard all year. It was an 11-month process and it all paid off."
Cole had big plays on the offensive end, too. He had five rushes for 39 yards on the Marauders’ game-winning scoring drive.
Mt. Vernon (10-2) will play host to Indianapolis Roncalli at 7 p.m. next Friday in a Class 4A regional contest. Pendleton Heights finishes the season 7-5.
It was the Marauders second win this season over their nearby Hoosier Heritage Confernece rivals. Mt. Vernon won 18-14 on Sept. 27 in Fortville.
“(Coach Jed Richman’s) game plan was fantastic and got us on our heels,” Kirschner said of Friday’s opponent, whose coach was a former assistant for him at Ben Davis. “The best part, we didn’t quit. These guys have never experienced this, so it’s a big stepping stone for us in trying to build a program.”
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Regional championships
(games at 7 p.m.)
Class 5A
No. 2 Cathedral (9-2) at No. 1 New Palestine (11-0)
Class 4A
Roncalli (7-5) at Mt. Vernon (10-2)
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