HILLIARD — Mount Vernon matched its win total for the last three seasons on Friday night, beating Hilliard Bradley, 29-7.
“The kids played pretty hard,” said Yellow Jacket coach Gary Keller. “It was 7-7 at halftime, and we came out in the second half and played well.
“... It was a tough night throwing the ball, but we did a good job in the running game. Offensively, Jordan Williamson had a big game. He had some long runs, and our offensive line was doing a good job opening holes. We try to mix the pass and the run, but the elements grounded us tonight.”
Williamson scored three touchdowns for Mount Vernon (2-5, 1-2), including two of 50 or more yards in the second half. Williamson’s first came in the first quarter, a 14-yarder, which, with Nick Sahr’s kick, gave the Jackets a 7-0 lead. Jeffie Johnson tied the score for Bradley later in the period on a 13-yard run, and the teams traded possessions until halftime.
“The weather was not bad in the first half, but in the second it rained hard,” said Keller. “We didn’t change a lot of what we were doing. The wind was behind us and that helped us establish field position, and the offensive line had some key blocks to open up some big plays.”
Defense was the key to the Jackets’ third-quarter surge. With Bradley pinned deep in its own territory, Mount Vernon forced a punt, and Matt Boucher blew past the offensive line to block the punt in the end zone. Trey Williams caught the ball on the fly for a touchdown. The extra-point failed, but the Jackets now led 13-7.
Mount Vernon continued to apply pressure to the Bradley offense, and the Bradley punter had the ball slip through his hands out of the end zone for a safety and a 15-7 lead. Williamson scored his second touchdown of the game against a tiring Bradley defense, taking off from his own 37 yard line and racing 63 yards for a 22-7 Jacket lead. Not yet finished, Williamson concluded the game with a 56-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.
“I think our win does some big things for us,” said Keller. “It gives us momentum down the stretch, and gives us a chance to take some steps to win some more games the rest of the season.”
