MOUNT VERNON — The Mount Vernon Yellow Jackets ran out of time before they ran out of downs on Friday night, falling to Marion Harding 21-14 in the high school football season opener.
Mason Richards had 91 yards rushing and two TDs to pace the Yellow Jackets, but it wasn’t enough.
Trailing 21-7 late in the fourth quarter, Richards connected on a 39-yard pass and again on another aerial to take the Jackets to the 5-yard line. A pair Marion Harding penalties took the Jackets to the 1-yard line, leading to his short TD plunge.
After holding the Presidents to a three-and-out, Mount Vernon had a final chance.
A fourth-down pass completion with 30 seconds remaining drew the Yellow Jackets close. But an incompletion into the end zone finished it.
It was a competitive start for a roster that boasts 19 freshmen.
“It’s not going to happen overnight, we will get better,” Mount Vernon coach Mark Weber said. “The important thing is I have players with high grade point averages.
“They show up every time and tonight they left it all on the field.”
Mount Vernon had first possession of the game and marched unimpeded to the Presidents’ end zone to take a 7-0 lead. But the offense struggled after that.
“That’s one part I don’t understand, how we march right down the field and then the offense kind of went dead,” Weber said.
“There were a lot of penalties, they were drive stallers, but they were called on both teams.”
It was small consolation but Weber’s squad enjoyed a statistical advantage. MV had more first downs (16 to 9), yards rushing (155 to 74), and total yards (303 to 224). Harding had the edge in passing yards (150-148).
Next Friday the Yellow Jackets will travel to Newark with kickoff set for 7 p.m..