Mount Vernon News

MOUNT VERNON — Some teams know and understand what it takes to win. Other teams have to figure it out for themselves.

With four rough seasons behind it, the Mount Vernon High School football team is still trying to figure out the right combination for success. Coach Gary Keller started the season talking about wins and losses, but he has quickly realized the importance of weekly improvement.

Mount Vernon is coming off a 28-14 loss to Wooster on Friday night. It was a game the Yellow Jackets easily could have won if they had not shot themselves in the foot.

“It wasn’t a problem of understanding what was going on; it was a problem of maintaining our mental focus on what we were supposed to do,” said Keller. “For example, in the first half, we were beat deep three times in our secondary. Those were just mental errors. ... Mental errors are usually a lot worse than physical errors. Mental errors usually mean somebody is on the wrong page.

“Offensively, we didn’t do a good job of maintaining our blocks. That’s been a problem in the first two games. I’ve challenged our guys the last couple of days. If we are going to be successful, we need to control the line of scrimmage. ... If you look at the start of the game, we had real nice runs and well-blocked plays, but we kept shooting ourselves in the foot. We can’t do that. We’ve got to eliminate the mental errors and put a complete game together.”

With the problems the Jackets have encountered in their first two games, none has been more visible than that of focus. Mount Vernon has been inconsistent, playing well at times.

“The student-athlete has to be able to maintain his focus and be able to sharpen his focus as we get closer to game time,” said Keller. “When we get to Friday night, we’ve got to be so clear in what we are doing that there is no room for error. We’ve also got to be confident in what we have to do and play with a lot of confidence.

“A lot of times when something goes wrong, we fold the tent up. A lot of times, realistically, we are still in the game. Teams come back all the time. Mentally, we’ve got to be stronger in the way we approach these teams. I think week in and week out, we can be competitive, but we have to play strong mentally and physically.”

“There are a lot of things involved in winning a game and losing a game,” Keller added. “The physical side and the mental side have to go together. We have to find a balance for our kids where they feel comfortable and are able to execute.”

Mansfield Madison comes to Mount Vernon this week looking for its first win of 2008. The Rams beat the Jackets, 34-27, last season. In that game, penalties, a missed field goal and a lost fumble cost Mount Vernon the road win.

Keller is hopeful his team can learn from last year’s mistakes this time around.

“Madison is probably looking at us and saying, ‘This is a team we can beat.’ I would probably say the same thing about Madison,” said Keller. “I want our kids to look at Madison to believe they can beat Madison. Now it is going to come down to who follows through Friday. That’s the real key.

“I think we are both very similar in a lot of respects. We have similar matchups. They have speed at their quarterback and wide receiver positions, but they are not huge. It is going to come down to execution.”

The Rams are coming off a 35-7 loss to visiting Tiffin Columbian. Madison running back Brentt Coopwood was limited to 80 yards on eight carries, including a 47-yard run which help set up Madison’s only score. Dominique Chester scored the touchdown from seven yards out. One of Madison’s biggest downfalls this season has been its inability to hold on to the football. The rams fumbled the ball seven times in the opener against Shelby, and the fumbled it six more times against Columbian, losing two.

For the Jackets, another game on their home field gives them another shot at redemption before the home crowd. It also is an opportunity to turn things around before conference play begins in Week 4.

“Being home is a positive. Playing Madison is a positive because of the ties that we’ve had with Madison over the years,” Keller said. “I think it is a good matchup for us. I like it because we have an opportunity to win. They are not so good that they are way out ahead of us. We can play with these teams, but we have to do it. We have to do the job.”