FORTVILLE — For a brief moment on Friday night, the Mt. Vernon Marauders’ quest at a third consecutive sectional championship appeared to be in jeopardy.
After a patented, quick start and a 19-0 lead in the first quarter, the Class 4A No. 4 Marauders found themselves in a hotly-contested Sectional 21 quarterfinal matchup with rival Pendleton Heights.
The Arabians chipped away at the deficit through the air behind quarterback Luke Candiano and pulled within one possession twice in the first half before the Marauders remembered who they were.
Up 26-21 with 3 minutes, 37 second remaining in the second quarter, the Marauders (9-1) went to work and scored three touchdowns before halftime en route to decisive 63-28, running-clock victory.
Another touchdown — Mt. Vernon’s fifth rushing score of the game — with 4:32 remaining in the third quarter initiated the mercy rule as the score stood 56-21.
“Honestly, I love competition. That made the game more fun. I haven’t had that much fun the whole year,” Mt. Vernon senior running back Keagan La Belle said. “We had a few players out this game, but we just have to move past that situation, and we just have to keep beating the teams we face. We did that tonight.”
The victory was Mt. Vernon’s ninth straight and ninth consecutive with an IHSAA mercy-rule running clock despite having a few key players on offense and defense unavailable.
Through those nine weeks, the Marauders have been relatively untested, but the senior playmakers passed the postseason trial against the Arabians (5-5), who they defeated 43-0 on Sept. 24 during the regular season.
“We just knew we had to get it to the people who make plays on the ball, and we did that,” La Belle said. “That was the goal. Get the ball to the playmakers, and that’s what we did.”
Their offensive philosophy resulted in 456 yards in total offense by halftime and 549 overall.
La Belle finished with 133 yards rushing and two touchdowns, including a 40-yard burst to put the Marauders ahead 12-0 after a second straight failed 2-point conversion attempt.
Senior Ashden Gentry had seven receptions for 202 yards and rushed for 2 more yards, but his primary damage was done on the opening kickoff as he returned the ball 89 yards for a fast 6-0 lead.
“It started us off for sure. Energized our team, I felt like, but I was a little mad that we didn’t convert the two-point, but we just have to keep getting better,” Gentry said.
“I agree with Keagan. It definitely made the game more fun, but we can’t let that happen. We didn’t let it happen the first game, and it shouldn’t have happened there, but we just have to get better at practice, especially our DBs.”
La Belle’s second rushing touchdown from 7 yards out put the Marauder up 18-0 with 4:29 left in the first quarter, but the Arabians stormed back with a pair of passing TDs by Candiano.
“We were playing run heavy at the beginning of the game, and they started passing all over us, so we dropped to our cover-4 and they moved me around, so they couldn’t throw as much,” La Belle said.
Candiano completed 10 of 19 pass attempts for 238 yards and three touchdowns. His first went for 50 yards to Jalen Jordan, who strolled into the end zone after a broken coverage to cut MV’s lead 19-7 in the first quarter.
He connected with Caden Sims for a 72-yard score with 16.9 seconds left in the first quarter that minimized the margin 19-14. Jordan hauled in three catches for 101 yards and two scores.
Mt. Vernon nearly hamstrung itself on the next possession, committing five penalties for 35 yards, but overcame the situation with a 60-yard, 11-play drive in 4:25.
Travon Hegler, who rushed for 56 yards on eight carries, capped the series with a 2-yard run to push the MV’s lead 25-14 in the second quarter.
Another Candiano TD pass to Jordan made it 26-21, but then the Marauders started to roll.
“We’ve never made excuses when we’ve had players out. We’ve had players out at different times in the year and at different points, so you have to roll with who you got, and the kids did a good job,” Mt. Vernon head coach Vince Lidy said.
“It’s La Belle, Gentry and (quarterback Gehrig) Slunaker. A lot is expected of them. They’ve got to be able to go out and make plays and put pressure on our opponents. On both sides of the ball and on special teams. Big players will step up in big games. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing.”
Slunaker completed 9 of 15 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns. He jump started a 17-second scoring drive with a 57-yard pass to Gentry late in the second quarter in response to Pendleton Heights’ TD strike.
Avery Williams Jr. ended the drive with a 10-yard run and La Belle converted the 2-point try to put MV up 34-21.
On the Marauders’ next offensive series, Slunaker connected with Tre Jones for a 35-yard TD, and on their next possession, the quarterback found La Belle for a 73-yard score and a 49-21 lead.
“That’s definitely the root of our team, been playing together since freshman year, and we just want to keep coming out and competing and hitting,” Gentry said.
A stop by the Marauders’ defense to open the second half setup a 76-yard drive that La Belle nearly finished from the Arabians’ 7 before fumble while trying to break the plane.
Mt. Vernon right guard Sabastian Acquaye scooped up the fumble at the Pendleton Heights 1 and scored his first-career TD to give the Marauders a 35-point advantage at 56-21.
“Credit to Pendleton, they came out and made some plays throwing the ball down the field and clawed back into it. Momentum jumped to their sideline,” Lidy said.
“I thought it was a good football game, and it was also good to see how our kids handle adversity. We haven’t been in a spot like that since our Noblesville game (when we lost 57-36), game one, which seems like an eon ago, and we weathered it.”
Ashton Julian scored the final MV touchdown with a 62-yard run for the team’s sixth rushing score. The Marauders scored on nine of their 11 possessions.
They now move on to face Hoosier Heritage Conference rival Greenfield-Central (7-3) in the sectional semifinals next week on the road.
“In the tournament, anything can happen, and we have to learn how to play a full football game,” Lidy said. “Twenty-four hours from now, it’s 0-0, and we’ll start preparing for our next game. We have to correct the penalties, our coverages, our physicality. Those are three things we can control, so we have to come back and get better on Monday.”
Mt. Vernon 63, Pendleton Heights 28
MT. VERNON (9-1);19;30;7;7;—;63
PENDLETON HEIGHTS (5-5);14;7;0;7;—;28
MV—Ashden Gentry 89 kick return (2pt failed), 11:45
MV—Keagan La Belle 40 run (2pt failed), 8:48
MV—La Belle 7 run (Ethan Yeley kick), 4:29
PH—Jalen Jordan 50 pass from Luke Candiano (Dominic Apo kick), 2:24
PH—Caden Sims 72 pass from Candiano (Apo kick), 16.9
MV—Travon Hegler 2 run (Yeley kick), 7:48
MV—Avery Williams Jr. 10 run (2pt good), 3:19
MV—Tre Jones 35 pass from Gehrig Slunaker (2pt good), 1:01
MV—La Belle 73 pass from Slunaker (Yeley kick), 0:00
MV—Sebastian Acquaye 1 run (Yeley kick), 4:32
MV—Ashton Julian 62 run (Yeley kick), 11:04
PH—Dresden Roberts 3 run (Apo kick), 5:22
