Mustangs dominate Bobcats, improve to 2-0
By Nick Thompson
VAN HORNE – While the calendar may have just turned over to September, the weather was
feeling more like the dog days of July.
That didn’t matter to the Mount Vernon Mustangs (2-0) on Friday night in their contest against
Benton (0-2).
The Mustangs were able to leap out to a 10-0 lead by the time the first quarter ended thanks to
a 17-yard touchdown pass from Easton Reasland to Holden Hlavacek and a 32-yard field goal
from Jack Carnes.
Benton’s offense struggled to move the ball against a stout Mustang defense, only gaining 17
yards of offense in the first frame.
A duo quarterback system of Reasland and Noah Olsen gave different looks to the Bobcat
defense, but Olsen and Maddox Curran were able to find a soft spot and connect for a 7-yard
touchdown pass to push their advantage to 17-0 by the halftime break.
The depth at the quarterback position and on the team in general allowed the Mustangs to find
different looks that worked and got their offense moving.
“We’ve said it from the very beginning that we are a very deep team,” Mt. Vernon head coach
Brad Meester said. “We are a young group with a lot of guys wanting to get looks. When those
spots open up, we’ve got no problem sending another guy right back in. That is such a great
asset to have and as we go through the season we are going to keep maturing and the sky is
the limit for the group.”
Benton picked up an early first down to start the second half, but a low block penalty killed the
momentum and they were forced to punt.
On the next Mustang possession, two holds put them in a 1st-and-30 situation, but a 37-yard
connection from Olsen to Luke Robinson put them in prime position to extend their lead and
they did just that on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Olsen to Graham Yanda and after the PAT,
they led 24-0.
Mount Vernon continued to march the ball down the field to end the third quarter and start the
fourth with a 12 play, 82-yard drive that culminated in a Reasland touchdown pass to Hlavacek
to take a 31-0 lead.
Tucker Plate put the icing on the cake for Mt. Vernon, picking up a 65-yard run and then finding
the endzone from 10 yards out to give the Mustangs a 38-0 victory.
While running back Jakob Yock wasn’t able to find the endzone on Friday night, he was the
workhorse that kept the Mustang offense moving. He rushed the ball 26 times and unofficially
gained 130 yards. The workload was a testament to Yock’s work ethic and offseason training.
“He just doesn’t quit I’m telling you,” Meester said. “He stepped into this role last year and really
took it over. He’s continued to do it this year and he’s just a workhorse. He will not take himself
out and he keeps wanting the ball. He’s quick and shifty which makes him tough to take down.
Kudos to the line, Benton blitzed us a ton and they did great learning to pick those up and Jakob
did a great job at finding those seams and make those big plays happen.”
The Mustangs will take on a tough Solon squad next week and it will be a battle of the early-
season unbeaten teams after the Spartans walked away with a 42-0 drubbing over
Williamsburg.
“We just keep getting better every week and that’s what it’s about,” Meester said. “It was a huge
step forward this week and they keep on maturing. This is a young, young group. We’re hoping
to keep seeing them mature and take another big step next week and keep pushing to put
ourselves in the spot to play our best ball at the end of the year.”
Benton is now 0-2 on the year and will host rival Vinton-Shellsburg next week.
Mount Vernon 0 7 7 14 – 38
Benton Community 0 0 0 0 – 0
MV – Easton Reasland 17 pass to Holden Hlavacek (Jack Carnes kick)
MV – FG Carnes 32
MV – Noah Olsen 7 pass to Caddox Curran (Carnes kick)
MV – Olsen 20 pass to Graham Yanda (Carnes kick)
MV – Reasland 10 pass to Hlavacek (Carnes kick)
MV- Tucker Plate 10 run (Carnes kick)
