By Derek Shore (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Mount Vernon football has hovered around the middle of the pack in the Big 8 Conference the last five years or so. Mountaineers head coach Tom Cox has a simple message for his players.
“We are either the best of the worst or were the worst of the best,” Cox said.
On Friday night, Class 3 No. 8 ranked Mount Vernon accomplished a feat they have not achieved since 2012.
Beat rival and No. 7 ranked Monett.
Oh, and they are also the defending Class 3 state champions.
The Mountaineers used big plays through the air and excellent field position to snap the Cubs 12-game winning streak, defeating Monett 25-20.
“Big win for us,” Cox said. “Our motto is to climb higher. We are trying to get up into that upper echelon, and that is where Monett is. That is a good measuring stick for us to beat them tonight.”
Mount Vernon improved to 3-0 on the season, but the victory didn’t come easy.
The start of the Big 8 clash consisted of a defensive battle as both sides struggled to generate any offense through the first nine minutes of the contest.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
The Mountaineers struck first as running back Sammy Robinson took a handoff and ran right up to the gut of the Monett defense on the left side, scampering for a 39-yard score with 2:02 left in the first quarter.
After the PAT was blocked by Monett, the Mountaineers finished the first frame with a 6-0 lead.
With terrific field position after an errant snap by Mount Vernon early in the second quarter, the Cubs got the ball at their 17-yard line and needed only four plays to tie and take a 7-6 lead thanks to a Karter Brink one-yard quarterback sneak for pay dirt.
The Mountaineers swiftly regained the lead at the 8:28 mark after quarterback Ty Boswell connected with Andrew Montemayor for an 86-yard touchdown pass. A failed two-point conversion kept the score at 12-7.
On their final drive of the half, Brink got back to work, hitting receiver Jedd Anderson on a 44-yard pass play ultimately capped by Patrick Valentine’s four-yard run into the end zone as the Cubs finished the second quarter with a 14-12 advantage.
Mount Vernon came out of the locker room with a game plan to test Monett with the long ball.
That paid dividends.
The Mountaineers quickly erased the two-point halftime deficit as Chase Fenton caught a 42-yard pass from Boswell at the 8:31 mark and a Montemayor 23-yard touchdown catch helped grow the lead to 25-14 heading into the fourth quarter.
“We felt like we had the opportunity (to pass),” Cox said. “They were kind of collapsing on our inside zone play. We were running our bubble out there. They were definitely tracking Andrew Montemayor on the bubble, and we were able to get our guys in behind him off of that.
“That was definitely our game plan in the second half to open it up more.”
With 3:41 left in the game, a 52-yard throw from Brink helped set-up a one-yard touchdown run for himself to make it 25-20, but the Cubs came up just short despite four Mount Vernon touchdowns being called back due to penalties.
“As bad as it maybe seemed, we still had a chance to win,” Monett head coach Derrek Uhl said. “Field position killed us. It always seemed like we were always starting near the scoreboard. That’s not a good thing. Sometimes it was penalties.Sometimes we just mucked the kickoff, so that doesn’t help an offense that just not moving the football.”
While he said his offense was inconsistent with moving the ball consistently on the inside, Cox doesn’t think he has ever coached a game with as many touchdowns called back and still prevailed in the end.
“My reaction is our guys persevered,” Cox said. “Coach Hayes after the game told them this was kind of a game of two P’s – penalties and perseverance. Our guys just kept playing.”
Uhl admitted the game was rather bizarre but liked his team’s chances to win throughout the night. There was a difference about Mount Vernon, though.
“They have some speed and some positions that may be caused us some problems,” Uhl said. “As a whole, graduations you have to have kids step up. I thought our kids did. Our kids are doing a good job as far as finding their role right now.”
Mount Vernon hosts Seneca next Friday night.
Meanwhile, Monett (2-1) travels to Lamar on the same night as well.
