MV runs free

FORTVILLE — The Marauders had a relatively easy time moving the football in the first half Friday.
The same was not true for the Patriots.
Unfortunately for the Jay County High School football team, by the time it was able to push downfield the game was already out of reach.
Mount Vernon ran around, and at times through, the Jay County defense to the tune of 401 rushing yards — 311 in the first half alone — in a 42-14 clubbing of the Patriots in the opening round of the Class 4A Sectional 22 tournament.
The Marauders (6-4) advance to the semifinal at Pendleton Heights, which beat Connersville 48-32.
“We knew they run the double wing,” said JCHS coach Tim Millspaugh, whose team lost in the first round of the postseason in each of the last two years. “It wasn’t anything we didn’t prepare for. The thing that is hard about that is there is so many people to sift through.”
And one of those players was Nathan Seifert, who is listed at 6 feet, 2 inches tall, 185 pounds but plays much bigger. Seifert racked up 187 yards on just six carries with three touchdowns. Two of those were in the Marauders’ 28-point first quarter.
“He is a very talented, hard-working kid,” Mount Vernon coach Doug Armstrong said. “(He’s) a weight room guy. He’s tough for a defense to handle.”
Damari Gatewood took the opening kickoff 45 yards to the Jay County 40 yard line, and two plays later Seifert ran around the right end 35 yards for a touchdown.
Jay County managed just 19 yards on its first possession of the game and punted after six plays. Seifert capped off a 63-yard drive with a 46-yard score, again around the right side after he broke a tackle at the Jay County 43.
The Patriots (4-6) went five-and-out on their next drive, and Gatewood scampered 67 yards on the ensuing play for the Marauders’ third touchdown of the quarter. He caught a 35-yard TD pass from Josh Coons on Mount Vernon’s next possession, and Trevor Bond’s point after attempt made it 28-0 in favor of the home team with 23.6 seconds remaining in the quarter.
Seifert and Coons both had touchdown runs in the second quarter — Seifert from 32 yards out and Coons from the 8-yard line — as the Marauders took a 42-0 lead into halftime.
“Our wing offense has been getting better each week,” Armstrong said. “It’s tough to stop if you don’t see it very often. We’ve got some pretty good backs who were able to break some tackles and go the distance.”
In all, 11 players ran the football for Mount Vernon, which averaged 10.3 yards per carry.
And in the first half, the Marauders’ defense was just as successful as the offense.
Jay County punted on each of its first three drives, turned the ball over on downs once and threw an interception.
“Our defense has been good most of the season,” Armstrong said. Mount Vernon allowed just 139 yards in the first half. “We keep waiting for them to actually just dominate. We keep giving up big plays here and there.”
Some of those big plays came in the second half, with JCHS senior Drew Huffman racking up 140 of his team-high 181 rushing yards. Out of his 18 total carries, eight — including six after halftime — were for eight or more yards. Cole Stigleman, a sophomore who finished with 51 yards on 10 carries, also had two rushes go for 17 yards each.
Huffman, who missed two games earlier this season with an ankle injury, showed no signs that he was feeling any pain, finding holes for two rushing touchdowns. He scored late in the third quarter on an 8-yard run through the right side, and late in the fourth quarter he broke free for a 75-yard score.
“Drew Huffman is one of those kids, if you look at a football program and you’re going to put a poster up that says ‘Jay County football,’ he’s one of the kids that should be on the poster,” Millspaugh said.
Huffman’s second touchdown came with less than a minute to play in the game, and after Mount Vernon’s backup quarterback Robbie Campbell took a knee on back-to-back plays, the reality set in for the Patriots.
The season was over. Tears were shed. Hugs were given out, and a group of seven seniors got down on one knee in a circle to console each other long after their teammates had left the field.
“The thing about that (senior) class, it is a special group of kids,” Millspaugh said. “They will always have a special place in my heart. We’ve had some tough moments in this program in the last year.
“Every year is tough. It’s a lot more enjoyable to get the equipment out than it is to put it away. When a group like that plays their last game, it hurts."