Mount Vernon's Garrett Hadlock threw for 309 yards and six touchdowns to lead the Mountaineers to a 53-8 win over McDonald County High School Sept. 16 at Mount Vernon High School.
It was another quick start for the Mustangs, but after scoring on its first possession, Mount Vernon responded with 53 unanswered points -- including 32 in the second quarter -- to take a 46-8 lead at halftime.
"You know, we marched right down the field and scored and then hit the two-point conversion and I am thinking it's going to be a great night," said coach John Diehl. "We are just clicking on all eight cylinders. We held them on their first possession and things are looking great."
Oakley Roessler staked the Mustangs to great field position to start its lone scoring drive of the game by returning the opening kickoff 50 yards to give the Mustangs the ball at the Mount Vernon 45-yard line.
On McDonald County's first play, Peyton Barton hit Isrrael De Santiago with a screen pass for 16 yards. Barton then carried twice for another first down before the junior quarterback got loose for an 18-yard run to put the ball on the 4-yard line.
On first down, Barton dropped back to pass. Seeing an opening around the right end, he scampered untouched into the end zone with 9:38 left in the first quarter. Barton then hit Cole DelosSantos for a two-point conversion to give the Mustangs an 8-0 lead.
Mount Vernon started its opening drive on its own 32-yard line and overcame a holding penalty with one first down before facing a third and 1 at their own 41-yard line. After holding Sammy Robinson for no gain on third down, McDonald County's Elliott Wolfe and Jake Will teamed up to throw Robinson for a 2-yard loss on fourth down to give the Mustangs the ball on the Mount Vernon 39-yard line.
But after Barton's 14-yard gain on third and 9 was negated by a holding penalty, an incomplete pass forced the Mustangs to punt, giving Mount Vernon the ball on the their 20-yard line.
Mount Vernon then unleashed the Garrett Hadlock show. Hadlock hit Jarrett Massie for 12 yards before the senior quarterback and Andrew Montemayor teamed up for a 68-yard touchdown with 6:12 left in the quarter. The same duo connected for the two-point conversion to tie the game at 8-8.
McDonald then went three and out, setting up Mount Vernon's 57-yard touchdown drive capped by Robinson's two-yard touchdown on fourth down. Jayden Buttram's kick was wide right, leaving the Mountaineers with a 14-8 lead.
"Even when we were down 14-8, we were still in the ball game in the second quarter," Diehl said. "Everything is going pretty well, then basically the wheels fell off.
"But you have to understand, since Feb. 29 we have been pushing this football team as hard as they can possibly be pushed. Those kids have been playing above their level for a long, long time. We are competitive in every ball game and there is no quit in us, but just like when you do that with a car, when you push a car 150 miles an hour for four hours in a row, something is going to give. Something is going to breakdown, and we broke down Friday night.
"The bottom line is you can't get upset with anybody because they are giving you 100 percent. There was no quit in those kids on Friday night -- not one. The last thing I told them was I love each and every one of them and care about them as people. I said 'We are going to have games like this and, guys, we go back to work on Monday morning the same as we always did.'"
Hadlock hit Massie with a 24-yard TD pass to start the Mountaineers' second quarter onslaught. He added a 21-yarder to Montemayor, a 23-yarder to Cameron Hutchison and a 24-yarder to Chance Fenton to go along with a safety and Buttram's 29-yard field goal to end the half.
Hadlock capped his night and Mount Vernon's opening drive with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Hutchison.
Barton finished with 97 yards through the air on 7 of 20 passing and 6 net yards on the ground on 18 carries. Several bad snaps that Barton recovered resulted in losses of 47 yards. Roessler had 6 yards on four carries, and De Santiago lost 2 yards on his only carry.
DelosSantos caught three passes for 16 yards while De Santiago had two catches for 25 yards, Jake Will one for 29 and Micah Burkholder one for 27.
Hadlock finished with 21 completions in 29 attempts for 309 yards. The Mountaineers also had 176 yards rushing to finish with 502 total yards.
Will led the defensive effort with 19 tackles while DelosSantos had 15 and De Santiago 13.
McDonald County, 0-5 overall and 0-3 in the Big 8 Conference, jumps from the frying pan into the fire when the Mustangs hosts four-time state champion and undefeated Lamar on Friday night. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Sports on 09/22/2016