Kicking game gives Marauders another element on offense

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Ethan Yeley, the Mt. Vernon Marauders placekicker, warms up during a recent practice leading up to the 4A state championship game on Saturday, Nov. 27, 2021.

Tom Russo | Daily Reporter

FORTVILLE — After spending a majority of his youth on the soccer pitch to stay active, Ethan Yeley was a literally kicker without a team until he decided to give football a try.

Little did he know, one suggestion from his friend, Dean Helms, Mt. Vernon’s sophomore starting punter, would have him on a potential Class 4A state championship football roster.

Let alone a starter.

Sitting idle after taking a few years off from soccer, the Mt. Vernon sophomore always idolized Baltimore Ravens’ placekicker Justin Tucker, but he never envisioned splitting the uprights like the Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion.

“It feels amazing to be on the field, to be honest. It’s just my first year on varsity. I just really hope we take it all the way,” Yeley said. “There is definitely a lot of pressure going into it, but like my coach says, just take your time, don’t think about the crowd, nothing. Just kick the ball.”

Despite his inexperience, Yeley has done exactly that to near perfection.

On the state’s top-scoring team, which avergages 48.43 points per game, Yeley has seen 53 extra-point attempts and has converted 50 at 90 percent efficiency. He’s tallied 59 crucial points, including a pair of field goals against Roncalli in the regional title game, which proved the difference in the Marauders’ 27-21 win.

“He’s done a good job,” Mt. Vernon head coach Vince Lidy said. “We start every day at practice after warm up, Monday through Wednesday, by ripping off 12-15 PATS and field goals in five minutes. We’re all over the hashes and on both ends of the field, and he gets pressure on him, too, sometimes. He gets plenty of reps. For him to come up, we know what our range is, and he did a really good job (at regional).”

Against Roncalli, Yeley gave Mt. Vernon a 17-7 lead in the second quarter with a 21-yard field goal, and later he added the team’s final points, 27-14, with a career-best 37-yard field goal in the fourth.

On the season, he’s 3-for-4 on field goal tries with his lone miss purposeful at 49 yards against Roncalli, which was originally intended to be an out-of-bounds, pinning kick near the Royals’ 5-yard line. It bounced into the end zone for a touchback, positioning Roncalli at its own 20. The Marauders defense shut down the Royals on the ensuing drive, so it all worked out.

“If he would have got that one missed field goal out of bounds inside the 5, he might have had a perfect kicking game,” Lidy said. “That was way out of his range. We call it PAT to pin, and we were trying to minimize the rush of the PAT team. He just missed it. If he have got it at the 5, that would have pinned Roncalli even farther, which is what we were hoping, but the touchback was good because that ball could have been returned if it doesn’t cross the goal line.”

While Yeley’s longest field goal in a game has been measured at 37 yards, he’s previously drilled the ball from 50 and 51 yards out at practice.

“I started recruiting him in the eighth-grade, I had him in my class,” Mt. Vernon kicking coach Brandon Duerksen said. “I told him, he should come out and try. Thankfully, he did, and last year, he put in a lot of work to really develop into what he is right now. And, he has a lot more room for potential in the next two years.

“The amount of work he puts forth I haven’t seen in a lot of kickers. It’s awesome to see that dedication from such a young player.”

Yeley approaches kickoffs just as he does field goals and extra points. He has a plan in mind at all times.

“I’m always looking to kick it high and get it around the 20-yard line,” Yeley said. “I don’t want their best returners to get to it. I just try to stay warm and get loose. The ball can hurt sometimes when it’s cold, but it’s alright.”

It’s even better than the opposite of what Yeley was doing before he decided to put on a helmet.

“Dean talked me into it,” Yeley said. “Honestly, I was just chilling, so I was definitely out of shape at first.”

Now, he’s a key part of the offense, and he’s enjoying every minute.

“We’ve been friends since kindergarten, and after eighth grade, he thought about joining the team, and I told him he should,” Helms said. “I told him, we should be kickers. He was down. We’d go to the middle school and we’d kick, and then when he joined, he was immediately dedicated to it.”

Helms has punted 15 times this season for 429 yards with 28.6 yards on average. His longest punt has traveled 39 yards, and both will be ready at state today, if needed.

“That would a sight to see (Yeley getting a FG at state). I would be excited. I would probably be one of the first on the field,’ Duerksen said.

If You Go

What: IHSAA Class 4A football state championship

Where: Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis)

When: Today, 3:30 p.m.

Who: Mt. Vernon (13-1) vs. Northridge (10-4)

Tickets: $15 per person (all ticket sales will be digital only)

Seating: All seats general admission (Mt. Vernon band in section 136, Spirit Club in section 137)

Pregame Event: Marauders Tailgate from 12:30 to 3 p.m. at Bullseye Event Center (723 S. Capitol Ave.). Event includes all-you-can-eat food, water and soda for $20 (13 and older), $10 (12 and under) and free for 3 and under. Price is $25 for parking and one adult buffet. Tickets available online.