DEFIANCE, Ohio - The Mount hit the road for their first Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference road game of the season, heading north to Defiance to take on the Yellow Jackets. Defiance came into the game, their homecoming game flying high after a road victory vs. Hanover to kickoff HCAC play a week ago.
With that momentum in mind Defiance won the toss and took the ball, with the idea of getting ahead of the high-powered Lions early. That idea backfired in a big way, on the Yellow Jackets first play from scrimmage they fumbled on an exchange between their quarterback and runningback.
Brady Buller fell on the fumble giving the Lions the ball at the Defiance 20-yard line.
The Lions set the tone on that first drive with
Mariano McKenzie rushing on the first two plays of the game for 14-yards. Defiance would force the Lions into a 4th-and-goal from the one yard line, thats when
Caleb Corrill and the Lions got creative. They brought
Cornell Beachem Jr. in motion, faked a jet sweep then
Josh Taylor rolled to the right finding
Gary Powell III with a shovel pass touchdown.
On the Defiance next drive they rolled the dice and went for a fourth-and-one from their own 34-yard line, but
Brock Harris and
Decklan Brophy shut down the quarterback sneak attempt. The Lions offense took over again deep inside Defiance territory.
This drive was all McKenzie, after a first down incompletion he carried the ball four straight times for 34 yards and a 3-yard touchdown run.
Defiance finally go their first first-down of the game on their next drive but were quickly forced to punt. The Mount took over at their own 49-yard line
Josh Taylor would then lead the Lions on an 8-play 51-yard touchdown drive. The drive was capped by Taylor finding
Joey Newton in the back of the endzone for a 15-yard score. It was the first of three touchdown catches for Newton in the game.
The Lions would force their third turnover on the next Defiance drive, with
Devon Donawerth picking off a pass, once again giving the offense a short field. Once again it was Taylor to Newton, this time from 20-yards out pushing the Lions lead to 28-0 in the first quarter.
They would not look back, scoring another 14-points in the second quarter and holding Defiance scoreless in the first-half. Heading into the half leading 42-0, lead to the Lions once again allowing younger players to gain some valuable game experience.
After allowing a some points to Defiance late, the final score would settle at 62-21.
Once again the Lions rushing attack was the story of this one,
Devin Holt led the way with 15 carries for 85 yards and a touchdown, McKenzie had 9 carries for 52 yards and a TD, Taylor added 10 for 61 and a TD,
Jonathan Rager had 4 carries for 43 and a TD and
Jackson Gifford had 7 carries for 37 yards.
Defensively
Nate Owens led the way with 8 total tackles (3 solo) and a fumble recovery,
Nate Austin also had 8 tackles (4 solo) and a half sack. Donawerth and
DeShawn Starks each had an interception in the game.
UP NEXT:
The Lions will return home for three straight games, next week welcoming Anderson to Schueler Field. Then Hanover comes to town for Homecoming, followed by Franklin for Senior Day!
