NEWARK — A once-abandoned high school football rivalry’s flame had dimmed over the course of time.
However, the Mount Vernon Yellow Jackets did something to ignite the rivalry back to a roaring blaze with a stunning 24-9 victory at Newark on Friday night.
Coach Mark Weber said his main takeaway from the game was the desire he saw in his players.
“The desire to not be losers. They’re not losers, but the desire for others to not see them as losers. They’re not losers, they know they’re not,” Weber said.
“It’s their desire to be the spark and the change, because all they’ve heard is how they can’t and they can’t and they can’t and we hide in the shadows and we hide in shadows. They’re finally like enough, we’re done with it.”
How the Jackets got it done
The Jackets marched on to White Field and commanded respect from the beginning of the game all the way to the last whistle.
The upset kicked off from the very first drive when sophomore Landon Dawson returned an interception for a touchdown. A missed extra point left the Jackets in front 6-0.
Mount Vernon senior quarterback Mason Richards scored the next touchdown for the Jackets off a designed quarterback keeper to push the margin to 12-0,
That would be all the points the Yellow Jackets’ defense needed.
Meanwhile, Richards scored his second touchdown off another quarterback keeper run. That made it 18-0 at the half.
Newark broke through early in the third quarter when senior running back Alex Irvin passed the pylons.
After that, it was all Jackets.
Even with a bad snap, Richards was able to recover the fumble and run the ball in for the last touchdown of the evening, and his third of the night. Final score, 24-7 Jackets on top.
