FORTVILLE — There was no repeat of last week. Just efficiency.
Seven days after losing big to visiting Class 6A Noblesville in their season opener, the eighth-ranked 4A Mt. Vernon Marauders came out ready to prove a point.
“We were calling it the comeback game all week,” Mt. Vernon senior Keagan La Belle said. “We got shown up last week, and we wanted a win going into the big Greenfield-Central game next week.”
La Belle lived up to those words, rushing for 121 yards on 12 carries, including a 50-yard touchdown, to help secure the Marauders’ first win on the season, 43-25, over the visiting 5A Franklin Grizzly Cubs.
The Marauders’ rushing attack accounted for 132 yards on 23 carries and three touchdowns, and senior quarterback Gehrig Slunaker completed 17 of 23 pass attempts for 202 yards and two touchdowns.
The Marauders surrendered 588 rushing yards against Noblesville last week during their 57-36 loss, including 354 by one player in Logan Shoffner, but this time around, the defense clamped down.
Mt. Vernon limited the Grizzly Cubs to five first downs in the game and six points in the first half. The Marauders initiated a running clock for the final 24 minutes by establishing a 43-6 point advantage after more than a 90-minute lightning delay.
Mother Nature halted play in the second quarter with 7 minutes, 13 seconds left in the first half and Mt. Vernon leading 29-6.
Play resumed shortly around 9:30 p.m. and the Marauders went back to work, scoring twice more before halftime.
An Avery Williams’ 9-yard run for a touchdown capped a three-play drive that was highlighted by a 40-yard run by La Belle on first-and-10 from Mt. Vernon’s 47. The score pushed the lead to 36-6.
After a long drive by Mt. Vernon on their next offensive series that resulted in a turnover on downs, the Marauders regrouped and Eli Bridenthal finished a 79-yard series with a wildcat-formation, 4-yard rushing touchdown with 0.0 left on the clock.
The score was Mt. Vernon’s last of the night with the IHSAA’s mercy rule in effect for the second half and Mt. Vernon ahead 43-6.
“If you’re first game defines your entire season or you peak in game one, then you’re pretty much (in trouble),” Mt. Vernon head coach Vince Lidy said. “Noblesville did some good things, and at some point dominated us up front, but we didn’t help ourselves out. We knew we had to score points, and we had to get a few stops.”
Slunaker scored the Marauders’ first touchdown on the opening series with a 9-yard run and followed up with a two-point conversion pass to Williams to give Mt. Vernon an 8-0 lead.
La Belle’s longest run of the night increased the margin to 16-0 after another two-point conversion pass by Slunaker to George Burhenn with 6:07 left in the first quarter.
A Williams’ interception against Franklin quarterback Clay Pinnick at the Mt. Vernon 44, setup the Marauders at the Grizzly Cubs’ 40, which led to a 22-0 lead three plays later.
Slunaker connected with Bridenthal for a 26-yard touchdown pass to end the drive. Bridenthal had 46 yards on five receptions and finished with two touchdowns — one receiving and one rushing.
Slunaker’s second TD pass went to La Belle for 38 yards with 11:43 remaining in the first half. La Belle hauled in two passes for 42 yards, giving him 163 all-purpose yards in the game.
The only hiccup for the Marauders’ starters came prior to the lightning delay, when a fumble lost on the snap was recovered by Franklin’s Jacob Johnson, which put the Grizzly Cubs on Mt. Vernon’s 34.
Franklin used seven plays to score behind John Shepard’s first of two rushing touchdowns, spanning 17 yards to cut the lead 29-6 with 7:13 left in the first half.
Already shorthanded due to contact tracing quarantines, the Marauders sat their starters in the second half as Franklin three more times.
Pinnick rushed for a 3-yard touchdown to end the game, while Shepard broke free for a 59-yard run. Pinnick also had a 2-yard TD run.
The Marauders (1-1) open their Hoosier Heritage Conference schedule next week at Greenfield-Central (1-1) with aims of defending their league championship status.
Mt. Vernon 43, Franklin 25
FRANKLIN (0-2);0;6;7;12;—;25
MT. VERNON (1-1);22;21;0;0;—;43
MV—Gehrig Slunaker 9 run (2pt pass), 7:43
MV—Keagan La Belle 50 run (2pt pass), 6:07
MV—Eli Bridenthal from Slunaker 26 pass (2pt failed), 3:22
MV—La Belle from Slunaker 38 pass (Ethan Yeley kick), 3:22
F—John Shepard 17 run (kick failed), 7:13
MV—Avery Williams 9 run (Yeley kick), 6:20
MV—Bridenthal 4 run (Yeley kick), 0:0
F—Clay Pinnick 2 run (Patrick Fancher kick), 3:0
F—Shepard 59 run (kick failed), 7:01
F—Pinnick 3 run, 0.0
