Host Mt. Vernon Mt'neers fall to Nevada tigers, 36-23

Despite a hard-played effort on their part, the Mt. Vernon Mt’neers suffered their second defeat of the season when they lost to the Nevada Tigers at Mt’neer Stadium on Friday, Sept. 23.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Mt’neers were the first to get on the board when Levi Hennum made a 33-yard field goal on a fourth-and-12 about a third of the way through the second quarter. However, the Tigers took the lead afterwards when they scored a touchdown. Braden Dodson, however, blocked their attempt at a PAT, leaving the score 6-3.
In the last seconds of the quarter, the Mt’neers seized the lead again when Gavin Johnston completed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Braxton Horton. Hennum followed up with a successful PAT to make the score at the end of the half 10-6.
The Tigers scored another touchdown early in third quarter, followed by a successful two-point conversion, to again take the lead with a score of 14-10. About midway through the quarter, though, the Mt’neers struck back when Braden Dodson recovered a fumble in the Tigers’ end zone, scoring a touchdown. However, their attempt at a two-point conversion failed, leaving the score 16-14.
Quickly responding, the Tigers scored a touchdown from the following kickoff when their receiver made a 98-yard touchdown run, followed by a two-point conversion to pull ahead with a score of 22-16. They made another touchdown with less than a minute left on the clock in the quarter, followed by a successful two-point conversion, bringing the score to 30-16.
The Mt’neers replied with their own touchdown when Dodson made a two-yard touchdown plunge into the end zone. Hennum followed with a successful PAT to make the score of 30-23, but it would not be enough.
The Tigers made the final touchdown of the evening in the last minutes of fourth quarter, leaving the final score 36-23.
While lamenting the team’s loss, head coach Tom Cox expressed pride in the grit and determination the Mt’neers displayed during the game.
“It’s tough to lose any game,” he said, “but it’s especially tough to lose a game that your team played so hard in. I was very proud of our effort against the No. 7 ranked team in Class 4. In our first five games, we have played four Class 4 teams and one Class 3 team. We face the only other Class 2 team on our schedule this year on Friday night when we travel to Springfield Catholic.”
Cox said the team demonstrated improved performance as a team in their game against the Tigers and would work to continue improving.
“Once again, we had many strong individual performances,” he said, “and we played much better together against Nevada. We faltered at times in our special teams, and we turned it over too many times on offense, but neither was from a lack of effort. We need a strong week of practice to get ready for the Fighting Irish. They have beaten us the last two years, and we haven’t forgotten that. It is always an exciting and entertaining game when we do battle. These final four games are super important in the conference and district standings.”