FORTVILLE — The rule is unwritten, but it hasn’t failed the Class 4A Mt. Vernon Marauders so far.
After every victory this season, the fourth-ranked Mt. Vernon Marauders have taken 24 hours to celebrate.
No more. No less.
After posting their 11th consecutive win on Friday night, the Marauders intend to maximize every one of those 1,440 minutes ahead and allow the magnitude of their accomplishment to sink in.
Defeating visiting Connersville, 70-0, on Friday night during the 4A Sectional 21 finals, the Marauders (11-1) completed their first postseason task, and they achieved it in dominant fashion.
Scoring on 10 of 11 possessions, Mt. Vernon built a 63-0 lead by halftime and added on one more touchdown in the second half with an IHSAA mercy-rule, running clock to secure the program’s third straight sectional title and seventh overall.
The points scored were the most by the Marauders all season. Their season record marked the third consecutive with 11 or more victories and gave the senior class a prolific 41-9 record in four years, making them the winningest class in Mt. Vernon history.
“It’s huge. We started from nothing with losing teams, losing record. Now, we’re here. A third sectional in a row. It just feels amazing,” Mt. Vernon senior running back Keagen La Belle said. “Our coaches told us beforehand, you have to play your best game so next week we can show (our next opponent) on film when they watch tomorrow that we’re a real team and we can put up a fight.”
The Marauders’ next challenge will be a familiar one in top-ranked, unbeaten Roncalli (12-0), who defeated No. 7 Bishop Chatard, 35-21, on Friday to setup a rematch of last year’s regional final.
Roncalli, the defending state champion, eliminated the Marauders at regional in 2020 at home, 35-14. Mt. Vernon beat Roncalli, 25-17, in 2019 at home to win its first-ever regional title en route to a final four appearance.
The tiebreaker will unfold next week at Mt. Vernon, but for now, the Marauders are revving up in anticipation.
La Belle got the celebration in motion against Connersville (3-9) by returning the sectional championship game’s opening kick off 82 yards for his first of four touchdowns.
“Start off big, get the crowd going, get the score going. It just starts the game off right,” La Belle said.
From there, the Marauders never slowed down.
La Belle rushed for 88 yards on seven carries for three touchdowns, six different Marauders scored at least one and quarterback Gehrig Slunaker completed 7 of 9 passes for 153 yards and three touchdowns.
By halftime, the Marauders posted 337 yards in total offense, returned two kicks for scores, including a 64-yard punt return by Ashden Gentry to increase the lead 28-0, and the Marauders established a 42-0 advantage after just one quarter.
Mt. Vernon posted nine touchdowns in the first half and used 20 plays on offense alone to average 16.85 yards per snap while the defense recorded three sacks and two interceptions by Luke Hiner and Dominic Barnett.
“We’ve always been reaching for that,” Mt. Vernon senior lineback Owen Johnson said. “We knew ever since we were little that we were good, but we never expected our freshmen year that we would win three sectional titles in a row. It feels amazing.”
The feels grew with quick, rapid strikes as Mt. Vernon scored touchdowns only needing 14, 23, 29, 12, 36, 11, and 28 seconds before a 1 minute 18 second drive in the second quarter capped by La Belle’s fourth TD made the score 56-0.
La Belle’s touchdown runs measured 1, 2 and 2 yards.
Ashton Julian had the Marauders’ longest rushing touchdown at 61 yards to end the first-half onslaught with a first-and-10 dash from Mt. Vernon’s 39. The final drive of the half only took 11 seconds.
“I think we’ve done a good job of navigating the season and trying to get better every week somehow. We prepare really hard with film study on the weekends and practice with a good plan, Monday through Thursday, and our hopes are if we go out and play at a high level and execute our game plan, then good things happen,” Mt. Vernon head coach Vince Lidy said.
“We’re able to build a quick lead and throw other teams off their game plan, initially. We’ve been able to do that so far, other than New Pal when we started off in a hole at 10-0, we’ve been on the initiative. We’re going to enjoy this for 24 hours, and then we’ve got a humongous challenge at regional.”
With Roncalli in mind, the Marauders put their offense on display, rushing for 275 yards on 30 carries, while Slunaker competed touchdown passes covering 14, 11 and 23 yards.
He found Eli Bridenthal, Gentry and George Burhenn on each, respectively.
“It’s a big deal winning this. Another step in the journey, and we’re going to enjoy it tonight, but tomorrow, we have to flip the page and we’re on to the next,” Slunaker said. “It’s big to get another chance to make up for what we did last year, but we haven’t really been thinking about it too much. Connersville was on a two-game win streak, and we didn’t want to look too far ahead. We respect every opponent.”
Fittingly, Mt. Vernon’s final touchdown went to senior Gavin Muhlenkamp in the third quarter, capping a 10-play drive that spanned 70 yards. Muhlenkamp’s 1-yard run ignited sideline cheers from his teammates for the Marauders’ 70th point and 609th of the season.
“We’ve always set our goals really high and just to continue it out, it’s awesome. We feel accomplished, but we’re not done,” Johnson said.
Twelve weeks down. One more guaranteed and a hopeful two more afterwards.
“It’s hard enough to win one, but to win three in a row,” Slunaker said. “I never imagined this. It’s just the first step.”
Class 4A Sectional 21 Finals
Mt. Vernon 70, Connersville 0
MT. VERNON (11-1);42;21;7;0;—;70
CONNERSVILLE (3-9);0;0;0;0;—;0
MV— Keagan La Belle 82 kick return (Ethan Yeley kick), 11:46
MV— La Belle 1 run (Yeley kick), 9:04
MV— Eli Bridenthal 14 pass from Gehrig Slunaker (Yeley kick), 7:30
MV— Ashden Gentry 64 punt return (Yeley kick), 6:19
MV— Gentry 11 pass from Slunaker (Yeley kick), 2:11
MV— La Belle 2 run (Yeley kick), 44.3
MV— George Burhenn 23 pass from Slunaker (Yeley kick), 10:06
MV— La Belle 2 run (Yeley kick), 5:52
MV— Ashton Julian 61 run (Yeley kick), 3:21
MV— Gavin Muhlenkamp 1 run (Yeley kick), 29.0
