The senior class at Mount Vernon had never beat Aurora in football. Not in mighty mites, not in junior high, and not in high school. That all changed Friday night.
Senior Garrett Hadlock threw for 281 yards and four touchdowns and junior Sammy Robinson rushed for 165 yards and another score as the Mountaineers beat Aurora 42-28 in the Bell Bowl on Friday night at Mountaineer Stadium.
“We’ve been waiting for this moment,” said Robinson, who averaged nearly seven yards per rush on Friday. “We’ve been working hard all week. This means a lot to our seniors.”
Mount Vernon (5-2, 4-1 Big 8 Conference) won its fourth straight game—a streak that includes four 40-plus point efforts. The offense, anchored by Hadlock and senior receiver Jarrett Massie, has been a big reason for that success. Hadlock completed 18 of 27 passes on Friday night and found Massie 10 times for 129 yards and two scores.
“Everybody is doing something to take that away from us,” said Mount Vernon coach Tom Cox, who has taken the Mountaineers from 3-7 to 4-6 and now 5-2 in his three years leading the program. “Last week (against East Newton), Jarrett only had two catches. But we had some of the most remarkable catches tonight. Andrew Montemayor and Jarrett, those guys just never give up.”
Montemayor, a junior, had three catches for 84 yards and two touchdowns, including a 48-yard bomb from Hadlock late in the first quarter that gave Mount Vernon a lead it never gave back.
Aurora (1-6, 1-4 Big 8) played even with the Mountaineers most of the first half thanks to the play of talented senior quarterback Peyton Evans, who completed 21 of 35 passes for 206 yards and a touchdown and ran for 76 yards and a score on only 15 carries.
Evans 16-yard dart late in the first quarter to senior wideout Keaton Willard, followed by a two-point conversion completion to Kaleb Baker knotted the score 8-8. After Montemayor’s long touchdown reception put Mount Vernon back on top, Evans and his team marched 66 yards in just over two minutes before senior Wyatt Neff scampered into the endzone from 6 yards out—one of Neff’s two touchdowns on Friday.
Neff finished with 60 rushing yards on seven carries. Junior Clayton Dunning had seven catches for 80 yards, while Baker added seven catches for 46 yards. Willard made five grabs for 60 yards and a touchdown.
Mount Vernon stretched its lead to 22-14 early in the second quarter on an 11-yard strike from Hadlock to Massie, but the Mountaineers weren’t done. Junior kicker Jayden Buttram banged home a 42-yard field goal, with some help from the crossbar. “My heart skipped a beat when it hit the crossbar,” he joked. A few moments later, Buttram blasted a 44-yarder without any trouble, giving the Mountaineers a 28-14 halftime lead.
“He’s one of my best friends, I was so happy for him,” Robinson said. “I went over and picked him up. I couldn’t believe it.”
Buttram’s father, Jesse, was on the chain gang on Friday, but when Buttram kicked, he turned his back to the field.
“In the first week, against Reeds Spring, I missed two in a row when he was watching,” Buttram said. “On every single kick now, he turns his back and looks away. I haven’t missed one yet.”
Scoring Summary
Aurora 8 6 0 14 28
Mount Vernon 15 13 7 7 42
1Q
5:57 – MVHS – Robinson 11-yd run (Robinson 2-pt run)
2:38 – AHS – Evans 16-yd pass to Willard (Evans to Baker)
1:16 – MVHS – Hadlock 48-yd pass to Montemayor (Buttram PAT)
2Q
10:27 – AHS – Neff 6-yd run (PAT miss)
8:09 – MVHS – Hadlock 11-yd pass to Massie (Buttram PAT)
2:50 – MVHS – Buttram 42-yd FG
:1.6 – MVHS – Buttram 44-yd FG
3Q
:19.9 – MVHS – Hadlock 6-yd run (Buttram PAT)
4Q
10:04 – AHS – Neff 21-yd run (Scholbrock PAT)
7:49 – MVHS – Hadlock 31-yd pass to Massie (Buttram PAT)
4:13 – AHS – Evans 7-yd run (Scholbrock PAT)
