MOUNT VERNON — He is north central Ohio’s leading rusher, but to judge Mason Richards based solely on his on-field production would be selling Mount Vernon’s senior quarterback short.

The Yellow Jackets are in the midst of perhaps the greatest season in a generation thanks in no small part to Richards. The three-year captain has rushed for an area-best 1,195 yards and 18 touchdowns on 143 carries while completing 45-of-89 passes for 652 yards and nine scores. 

Mount Vernon (6-2, 3-0 Licking County League Buckeye Division) has won five games in a row for the first time since 2014 and is in the hunt for the first playoff invitation since 1993. The Yellow Jackets participated in the playoffs in 2020, when all schools were eligible for the postseason, but haven’t qualified in the traditional computer-points format since the Clinton Administration. 

“Mason has meant a tremendous amount to the team this fall,” said second-year coach Mark Weber, the architect of Mount Vernon’s rapid rebuild. “Production, leadership and toughness — he leads by example and has become the vocal leader that we needed. 

“He is a man of Mount Vernon. He wants these wins for the community, not himself.”

Wins have been hard to come by at Mount Vernon this decade. Mount Vernon’s last winning campaign was during the pandemic-altered 2020 season, when the Yellow Jackets finished 5-4. 

Mount Vernon won a combined seven games from 2021 to 2024, a four-year stretch marked by a revolving door of head coaches. Mike Kerr stepped down after six seasons following the 2021 season and Jay Campbell was 3-17 in his two seasons before Weber came on board in 2024.

A rare sophomore captain during Campbell’s final season, Richards embraced the new regime. Weber, who was 60-32 with four playoffs appearances in nine seasons at Teays Valley, brought a renewed energy to the program.

“Coach Weber has brought in a huge culture change,” Richards said. “For me, it’s showing how bought-in I am. That’s a big part for young guys is seeing the upperclassmen be bought-in.

“Now I’m a lot more vocal. I’ll get on guys to keep them accountable and bring them up.”

Mount Vernon dropped two of its first three games, including a disheartening 41-34 loss to Delaware Hayes in which the Yellow Jackets allowed a 34-14 third-quarter lead to slip away. Richards rushed for 222 yards and five TDs in the loss.

The following week he outdid himself. He rushed for a single game-record 310 yards and four touchdowns in a 35-34 overtime win against Johnstown.

“I didn’t even know I was on pace to get that record,” Richards said. “That was one of the hardest-fought games I’ve ever played. 

“It was a huge win for us. It has propelled us.”

The Yellow Jackets are averaging 32.1 points and 345.1 yards per game. Mount Vernon has featured a more diverse attack after relying almost exclusively on Richards through the first five weeks.

“We’re finally not just playing one style of offense. We’re not just running the ball with Mason,” Weber said after last week’s 42-13 win over Licking Heights. “We’re running different schematic runs that don’t just look straight at you. There’s some counter plays, some power plays and some play-actions off that.”

The Jackets will need to be at their best the next two weeks. Mount Vernon is at undefeated Licking Valley on Friday in a battle for sole possession of the LCL’s Buckeye Division lead and hosts Granville in Week 10. 

The postseason awaits beyond that. Mount Vernon is ninth in this week’s Division II, Region 7 rankings. The top 12 teams in each region make the playoffs.

“That is one of my goals that I’ve got written down, to get to the playoffs,” Richards said. “It would be huge for us. It would be a huge stepping stone for our culture and our school — to make it to the playoffs and win a playoff game.

“We’ve went through a lot to get here and nothing has been easy. We’ve spent countless hours grinding for this moment. We’ve earned this.”