MOUNT VERNON — Things just keep getting better and better for the Mount Vernon Yellow Jackets football squad. Back-to-back wins have the Jackets riding high, and that, for coach Gary Keller, is a good thing.
“There is a little bit more swagger in their step,” said Keller. “That’s a good thing. They are feeling confident about who they are and what they can do. We are trying to build on that.
“I think the mental stance of the team is pretty good. We’ve been down, but we were never out and our kids believe they can win no matter who they are playing. That is evident as our play develops out on the field. I think you see that in these kids. They are not backing down from anybody.”
Against Watkins Memorial on Friday night, the Jackets (3-5, 2-2 Ohio Capital Conference Capital Division) displayed strong teamwork on both sides of the football. The defense was solid once again, while the offense showed it is coming along quite well.
“I think we are complimentary on both sides of the football,” said Keller. “As we look at situations now, I think our offense is taking the opportunities that are given to them and putting points on the board. I think our defense is playing pretty sound, and our kicking game continues to create plays and ways we can score more points. That was evident last week on our kickoff team when we ran down, and Matt Adrian separated the ball from their guy. We recovered it and the next play, I believe, we scored.
“I think it is all going hand-in-hand now. One area is feeding off the momentum of the others.”
The team that Mount Vernon has fielded the last few weeks is representative of what Keller thought it would be at the beginning of the season. Now that they have overcome several injuries and pieced everything back together, Keller believes the sky’s the limit.
“This is the kind of team I thought we would have from the get-go,” said Keller. “Had we stayed healthy, I think we would have seen this sooner. I really believe our defense can play with anybody. I feel our offense has come along as we’ve developed and matured. We went through a series of stages, and right now, things are coming together for us. I am very pleased.”
Mount Vernon hits the road in Week 9 to take on the Big Walnut Golden Eagles. The defending OCC-Capital champions are coming off back-to-back losses for just the second time in four years. Last year, Big Walnut (6-2, 3-2 OCC Capital) dropped its second and third game, and then won 10 in a row on its way to the Division II State Semifinals. Big Walnut fell to New Albany last week, 27-20, after losing in Week 6 to Delaware, 17-10.
Even still, Keller sees a much different team this time around. While the Eagles are still very skilled, he believes the strides made by his team will make this a much more competitive game.
“I really believe this will be a close game,” Keller said. “They are a good enough football team that they are not going to give up and fold just because they lost two in a row. It is going to be a game where we will have to play mistake free. We’re going to have to watch what we are doing, and not shoot ourselves in the foot. We’ll have to go and play our best football game of the season because they are a good team. We look at this as sort of a benchmark for our season. We feel we are capable of winning, but it is obvious they are a good football team. They are not going to lay down. We’re going to have to go in there and beat them. It is going to have to be a total team effort is we are going to get by these guys.
“Their skill people are as fast as anybody we’ve seen this year,” added Keller. “They are not as big as they have been, but they can fly. Their line seems to be a big, physical line, so they have a combination of players. I think we can compete with this team. We did compete with them last year, but we just couldn’t get anything going offensively. This year, if we get our offense going early and play good defense, I think we can beat these guys.”
Winning on the road is something the Jackets have done twice already this season. Keller is hoping to make it a trifecta, but knows that his team must play its best to defeat the Eagles.
“I think our kids really want to make a statement, but it is going to depend on what (the Eagles) want to do to,” said Keller. “They’ve lost two in a row, so the question will be, ‘How bad do they want to win this game?’ To be honest, I’m not sure what they think of our program. I don’t know if they put us in high regard or not, but I’m more concerned about our football team. That’s my focus right now. We’ve got make this the game where we want to play our hardest so far this year. That’s the way we’ve got to approach this.”
