Seneca, Mo. – Don’t bet against Tom Cox in October.
For the second straight year, Class 3 teams are learning that message the hard way.
Last year, Cox’s Mount Vernon Mountaineers dispatched top-seed Reeds Spring on the road in the district semifinals. Friday night, it was Seneca’s turn to go down.
Sammy Robinson rushed for 165 yards and a touchdown, Zach Jones returned a blocked field goal 69 yards, and Andrew Montemayor took a kickoff 74 yards for a touchdown as Mount Vernon drilled Class 3 No. 5-ranked Seneca 37-8 on its home turf.
Seneca (9-2) looked out-matched in its own building, digging a 20-point halftime deficit that proved too much. Meanwhile, Mount Vernon (7-4) rolled to its second straight district championship appearance.
“Our theme right now is second season, second chance,” said Cox, whose team will be looking for a second chance at a district championship November 4. “We had a second chance against Aurora, made good on it. We had a second chance against Seneca, made good on it.”
Last week, Mount Vernon eliminated Aurora 30-18 in the opening round of districts. They led 30-6 in the fourth – a totally different story than the team’s meeting on September 29, a 33-14 Aurora win.
Friday night, Mount Vernon avenged a 19-7 loss to Seneca suffered September 8, and it wasn’t without a little luck.
On its opening drive, Mount Vernon was preparing to punt on a fourth down inside its own territory. But after a poor snap, punter Ty Boswell was forced to improvise. Instead of punting into oncoming traffic, he took off – and scampered 37 yards for a first down. A few plays later, Robinson danced into the endzone. It was 7-0, Mountaineers.
The lead doubled in the second quarter when Boswell tossed to Will Boswell for an 11-yard score. All of the sudden, Seneca – the undisputed No. 1 seed in the district – found itself staring at a 14-0 deficit.
“We knew we had to come out and punch them in the mouth from the first play,” said Robinson, “otherwise, it could have been a totally different ballgame. Seneca is a great team, I gotta give it to them, but we had to take care of business this time.”
It only got worse for the Indians. With two minutes remaining in the half, Seneca drove to the Mount Vernon 14 yard-line and faced a fourth-down play. The 31-yard field goal was blocked, however, and Jones scooped it up and scampered 69 yards to the Indians’ 11 yard-line. Two plays later, Ty Boswell scooted in the endzone. It was 20-0.
“That was a huge part in the game right there,” Cox said. “Coach (Kelley) Beckner had done a lot of film study on special teams and he really felt like we could block and extra point or a field goal.”
The opening kickoff of the third quarter went to Montemayor, who took it 74-yards for a touchdown. It was 27-0. A Jayden Buttram 38-yard field goal midway through the third made it 30-0.
“Both (Aurora and Seneca) I think had to make some adjustments in their offense to stuff they don’t want to do,” Cox said. “Seneca has really improved in their passing game. We know they run it well. The thing that we did tonight what was really good was keep the ball out of (Seneca quarterback Gavin) Clouse’s hands and make him hand it off. That kid is a great player. I really like him. We limited his touches and forced him to throw the ball.”
Mount Vernon also dominated the line of scrimmage. They harassed Clouse on defense and paved holes for Robinson on offense.
“The offensive line has been working really hard,” Robinson said. “Grinding, doing anything they can.”
“One of the things we’ve really worked hard on that we struggled with last year is running the ball effective when (the opposition) knows we’re going to run the ball,” Cox said. “We’ve been able to do that better this year, so that’s been a big key for us.”
Mount Vernon will now travel to Reeds Spring and face the Wolves in the district championship. Reeds Spring spanked Cassville 42-7 on Friday. It’ll be a revenge opportunity for Mount Vernon, who lost last year’s district championship in Monett. It’ll also be a revenge opportunity for Reeds Spring, who fell to Mount Vernon 35-20 on August 18.
“We ain’t done yet,” lineman Cayden Heisner said. “We don’t want to stop at districts, either. We want to go all the way.”
