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By Matt Turer — mturer@ky3.com
@MattTurer
Mount Vernon lost a 3,000-yard passer and a 1,300-yard receiver to graduation. But it’s not going to matter.
The Mountaineers are down 36 passing touchdowns and 12 receiving touchdowns. It’s not going to matter.
Tom Cox is about to put a first-year varsity quarterback under center to follow in the footsteps of a record-setter at the position. Doesn’t matter.
“We lost Garrett Hadlock. Tough to replace 36 touchdown passes,” Cox said. “And then Jarrett Massie. He had 82 catches.”
True. On top of that, Hadlock completed 219 passes last season. That sudden absence should be cause for concern, right? Question marks should flood an offense that put up the second-most points (28) of any team (besides Class 2 state champion Lamar) against Class 3 state champion Monett. So why won’t they?
Reason No. 1: Sammy Robinson. With Hadlock and Massie putting up eye-popping numbers in the air last season, it was easy to take Robinson for granted. But the 5-foot-11, 170-pound back scampered to paydirt 12 times on his own in 2016, and churned out 1,100 rushing yards.
Reason No. 2: Andrew Montemayor. A speedy inside-out threat who Cox believes is one of the most exciting players in the area, Montemayor pulled down 13 of Hadlock’s 36 touchdowns in 2016, reeling in 56 catches for 920 yards himself, and finding the endzone on an interception return, punt return and kickoff return.
“We were balanced last year with our play calling, which surprised me because I think we’re perceived as a throwing team,” Cox said at last week’s Parkview 7-on-7 tournament. “We felt like the strength of our team last year was getting it to [our playmakers] and letting them do their thing.”
And it worked. To the tune of seven wins, at least. Outside of a pair of two-score losses to Monett and a 49-14 loss to Lamar, the Mountaineers only dropped games to Cassville (30-29 on the road on a missed extra point) and Reeds Spring (47-34 in the season opener and a loss they would avenge in district play with a 26-20 win).
“A lot of our throwing last year was short stuff,” Cox said. “Bubbles and quick hitches. But I think just knowing how we scored, and as many times as it was perceived we threw the ball because we were so successful at it, that’s what people think of.”
That perception is probably going to change in two short months. Robinson could very well be the best back in the Big 8 this season and should be leaned on heavily with a new quarterback in junior Ty Boswell set to start.
“Here’s the thing about our team last year: With Ty not playing we didn’t have any experience to back Garrett up at quarterback. So what we did was just not let Garrett run the ball,” Cox said. “With Ty being more of a dual-threat guy, and with Sammy back, and with Andrew who can play in the backfield giving it to him on the jet, and with Chance [Fenton] (who had 40 catches and five touchdowns himself), we fully expect our yardage to not be such a disparity.”
Boswell started a linebacker for the Mountaineers in 2016 but has played quarterback on JV the past two seasons. He also plays basketball and baseball. While it’s a short sample size and while there was no defensive pressure (think ‘7 Mississippi’ in the street), Boswell tossed a tight spiral and threw with good velocity at the Parkview 7-on-7. He seems to have a good understanding of the position and showed the ability to throw a receiver open (including a nice back-shoulder strike against Mountain Grove). With some work on his downfield accuracy, Mt. Vernon may not miss much of a beat in 2017.
“I’m excited about the season,” Cox said. “We feel like if we take care of the football and stop the big play then we have a chance to be successful.
“But you look at our schedule, and we might be better and we might not win as many games. It’s just a good league.”
Cox named most of the Big 8 when talking about that tough schedule. Saying things like: “Seneca is going to be really good … Aurora is going to be better than last year … Cassville is going to be good … Monett is always going to be good … McDonald County has great athletes … And obviously Lamar is going to be good again.” Yeah, Mt. Vernon won’t be overlooking anyone.
Then there’s the defense. Mt. Vernon is returning a linebacker in Will Boswell (Ty’s brother) who just had one of the best tackling seasons in state history.
Making a point of saying his tackles were verified, Cox reiterated that Boswell tracked down 202 ball-carriers last season. Senior defensive end Cayden Heisner (who Cox said is a future Navy Seal), senior safety/wideout Ethan Johnston and sophomore defensive back Carson Bowman will also be looked to defensively.
“Carson is just getting better and better,” Cox said. “He’s a big kid. He’s thicker than his dad. He’s not quite as tall. But he’s going to be a really good player for us as well.”
First-team all-conference kicker Jayden Buttram is back as well and should be plenty busy with the offense in front of him, in addition to playing slot receiver and outside linebacker.
“Defensively, we’re just that size of school where we need six or seven guys going both ways. We’re going to try to play as many as we can.”
