MOUNT VERNON, Mo. — Tom Cox knew he had weapons, but after Week 2, plenty of people can say they've had a taste of how dangerous the Mt'neers passing attack can be.
"You've seen what Jarrett Massie can do. Tonight, you saw Chance Fenton."
The junior hauled in a 45-yard pass from Garrett Hadlock with 93 seconds left in the fourth quarter to lift Mount Vernon to a 24-17 win over Springfield Catholic on Friday.
Fenton caught five passes for 166 yards, none bigger than when he broke free up the left sideline and broke a 17-17 tie late in regulation.
Cox wanted to establish the run more after barely going to the ground in the season opener, but the struggles continued. That didn't stop Hadlock from throwing for 301 yards and completing 17 of 29 pass attempts.
"I think it's exciting that, if we can't run the ball, we're just going to do what we do best and that's throw it around the old ball yard," he said.
Mount Vernon (1-1) was sluggish out of the gate with their first of two turnovers in the opening half coming when Tyson Riley intercepted Hadlock on their first drive.
Catholic failed to convert off the turnover, allowing Hadlock and Fenton to make their first explosive connection on 3rd and 22. Fenton broke free and carried Riley deep into Irish territory. Will Boswell finished the drive with a three-yard touchdown run, giving Mount Vernon a 7-0 lead with three minutes left in the first quarter.
"In the first, we could not establish the run at all," Hadlock said. "We had a hard time even passing. Once we got the run going and threw a few screen passes, we came out on top."
Riley proved to be the most dynamic weapon for Catholic (1-1). The sophomore is familiar to some Mount Vernon fans as his father, Ozzie, coached the Mt'Neers prior to Cox's return two seasons ago. In his first varsity start back at Mount Vernon, he carried 17 times for 75 yards and tallied both Irish touchdowns.
"He played here in seventh grade and he's really matured well so we're happy for those guys, but it was tough for us to tackle him," Cox said.
Ryan Miller booted a 32-yard field goal after Riley's first touchdown to put Catholic on top 10-7 at halftime. The Irish would not find the end zone again until there were 27 seconds left in the third quarter.
"They were a lot more physical than I had thought," Hadlock said. "We watched a ton of film on them and thought we could handle them pretty easily, but they definitely proved us wrong."
The senior quarterback also connected with Jarrett Massie on a screen pass that went 35 yards for a touchdown with 5:08 left in the third quarter. Cox admitted he got too impatient with his desire to break out the big play on the Irish secondary, but Hadlock glowed about the rapport he has with his targets.
"It's getting great. I'm growing relationships with my receivers and we're connecting like nobody can touch us," he said. "We are absolutely getting it and I can't wait for the upcoming weeks."
Cox wants to spend the week working on creating more space up the gut as Mount Vernon prepares to face another tall order in the trenches via Monett next Friday.
