MOUNT VERNON — While growing up and playing soccer together, several good friends in Mount Vernon dreamed of one day playing for the high school team. They felt if they stayed together and worked hard, they could do something great there.

Those friends have done just that, closing in on some lofty goals during their senior season at MVHS. Brian Boutin, Craig Drews, Alex Dunnavant, Clint Eutsey, Tad Glibert, Chris Ingersol and Nick Sahr have been playing soccer together since their days in the Mount Vernon YMCA league and with the Mount Vernon Sting. Now, as seniors, they have won 13 straight games, putting up one of the best regular seasons (14-1-1) in Mount Vernon history.

“We’ve been playing together since we were really little guys. We played on the same club team,” said Eutsey. “We heard when we were little, these guys could be good when they get to high school if they stay together. It’s pretty exciting to see what we’ve done in the regular season, but we’re not finished. This is where we really want to show our stuff. We want to make noise in the state and see what we can do.”

The Yellow Jackets will get that opportunity to see if they can take that next step this Saturday at 7 p.m. when they host Westerville North in the Division I District tournament.

“It’s like we’re family. We all grew up together — played pretty much all year round,” said Glibert. “When we were little, we won a couple of tournaments. I’d say we’re a tournament team, at least we were when we were little. Hopefully, we still are. We’ve not made it past the second round, I think, in school history. We’re looking to win a district championship, a regional championship, maybe even a state championship.”

That family started several years ago when that core of players joined together on the Mount Vernon Sting. Also on that team were current juniors Justin Furey, Brandyn McQuigg and Kyle Henthorn. They traveled around the area, winning the D Division one of the first years. They then moved up to the B Division, where they didn’t win a regular season game but came back to win the season-ending tournament.

Even though they can’t have the whole high school team on a club team in the offseason, they have kept the core together as several guys play for the Sting, while another group plays for Xtabi out of Newark.

Playing together for that long, the seniors have forged quite a friendship. They feel that friendship has helped the team roll through the regular season.

“We’re a really close bunch of guys. We’re all friends and we’ve been friends,” Eutsey said. “I think that really contributes to our success on the field. We know what each other is thinking. It really helps us gel together. We pick each other up if someone’s having an off day.”

Watching and listening to the players on the field for both games and practices, one might question whether that friendship is true. But, it is. The players are able to get past any flare ups on the field.

“We get into little fights here and there. We’re just trying to make each other better. We’ve been doing that all year, pushing each other,” Glibert said.

“One of the great things about this team is we’re all friends and all really close, but we’re all really competitive. We all would kill to win,” said Dunnavant. “We play 3v3 over here sometimes and we’re all at each other’s throats every second of the game. But once we step off the field, we’re all best friends. That’s one of the great things about this team — it can be so competitive, yet still work out as friends.”

That competitive nature and the leadership of the seniors showed up prior to the season. The seniors got the team together for workouts early in the summer and even used a strange game to help them stay sharp with their ball skills. The players have been playing soccer on the tennis courts this year, using the boxes on the court in a game that helps them develop their ball skills with their feet.

“In team camp, someone brought it up. We really didn’t know what it was,” Glibert said. “We started playing it then and played it pretty much all summer. It’s tennis with a soccer ball. You play inside the serving boxes. The ball’s allowed to hit the ground once. You have three hits to get it over. It improves your touch tremendously and it’s fun to play.”

“It’s good to do if we need to take it easy after a hard game or to get our legs fresh again. It’s good to go over and do that because we get rest but still get some touches,” Eutsey said. “I think it’s helped. This year has been one of the more technically skilled teams we’ve had.”

Along with that core of players from the Sting, the Jackets have added several other technically strong players to the mix this year. One is Raul Santelices, a foreign exchange student from Chile. He’s been so much more than the team could have asked for. Santelices is a tremendously skilled player and has fit in well with the team.

“A lot of us were worried whether his personality would mesh with the team. He’s fit in better than anyone could have imagined,” Dunnavant said. “He just instantly started clicking. It’s really cool having him. I’m glad he came here.”

Several underclassmen have also helped the Jackets rise to new heights this year. Senior Ben Miglin, and juniors Chris Israel, Trent Kiger, Collin Riley, Devyn White, Chris Omahan and Josh Beougher have stepped up in big roles for the Jackets, as has sophomore Travis Kiger.

After completing an incredible regular season, the Jackets are now ready for the next step, especially the seniors.

“It’s our senior year. We don’t want to end our senior year with a loss. The only way to do that is keep winning,” Glibert said. “It’s hard to explain. You don’t ever want it to end. It’s up to us how many more games we get to play. Whether its one more or seven more.”