Mount Vernon is the definition of a building program. Last season’s four wins was a step better than the previous year’s three, and head coach Tom Cox has three all-conference players coming back.
"I expect a lot,” Cox says of his offense. “I think we've got the capability, this year, to score quickly, and hopefully to score often. The key on any football team at any level is what happens up front with the protection in the passing game, and of course being able to kind of pound it when we need to. That, I think, is one of the keys for us to be able to run the football."
That may be a question mark this season. The Mountaineers lost 16 letterman and 10 starters to graduation, including nine all-Big 8 stars. One of them was running back Payton Oelschlager, who scored seven times while rushing for 876 yards last season.
Luckily, their quarterback situation is very different.
Enter Garret Hadlock. The ‘Neers will lean heavily on the third year starter to carry the offense in 2016. He tossed 12 touchdowns while throwing for nearly 1,700 yards.
“[Garret] is a very smart player,” Cox said. “He does a good job with our offense if I don't mess him up too much sometimes, but he throws a very nice ball, and we've got some guys that can catch it, so I'm excited about having him back for a third year. We have to keep him healthy."
Most of those totals (nine scores and 826 yards) went to Jarrett Massie, also a senior this season. He was all-state last year as well. The two strengthened their bond at a pair of 7-on-7 tournaments.
“We can throw it pretty well, and we have,” Cox said. “I think there will be teams that are looking for ways to stop the Massie and Hadlock combination, and so we've got to do a good job – I've got to do a better job – of spreading the ball around to our other guys, like Andrew Montemaier, Sammy Robinson, Chance Fenton, just to name a few of our outside receivers, and some of the inside guys as well."
No coach will ever say they have a soft schedule, but you might be able to get Cox to admit that this is at least a softer schedule. They still play Lamar in conference, but at least a brutal starting schedule last year (Lamar followed by Carl Junction) is changed up this time around (Reeds spring and Springfield Catholic).
“We have opened with Lamar and Carl Junction the last two years and it's just been a brutal start,” Cox said. “Now, this year, doesn't get a whole lot easier because we open with Reeds Spring."
After a 4-4 conference season a year ago, the ‘Neers are eying at least a fifth win this time around.
