NEW ALBANY — The Mount Vernon football team got what it wanted Friday night — an opportunity against the league’s best team in New Albany. Problem was, the Yellow Jackets couldn’t take advantage of those opportunities and fell to the Ohio Capital Conference champs, 21-6.
“They are a good team. We had our opportunities and when you’re in a big game such as this, you’ve got to take advantage of them. We didn’t,” Mount Vernon coach Gary Keller said. “You’ve got to give them credit, those opportunities, they took them away from us.”
The Yellow Jackets (6-4 overall, 5-2 OCC) turned the ball over five times, including twice deep in New Albany territory. Add in a powerful New Albany rushing attack that limited the time Mount Vernon’s offense was on the field, and the Jackets were fortunate to still be in the game late.
New Albany’s running game kicked it into gear late in the first quarter, marching 57 yards for a touchdown. Most of that drive was fullback dives by senior Alex Hake, a 220-pound monster in the middle for Eagles. Hake, who rushed for 103 yards on the night, pounded it in from 17 yards out for the first score.
Mount Vernon bounced right back, moving the ball near midfield before the first of those turnovers came. New Albany (10-0, 7-0) wasted little time in making the Jackets pay, going 47 yards in four plays, including a 27-yard scoring romp by Jordan Gallegos.
