Burn Ban in Effect. All outdoor burning is prohibited in Franklin County.
The Mount Vernon Tigers dropped to 5-2 on the season and 2-1 in district play on Friday night with a 30-20 loss at home to the Commerce Tigers.
Commerce began the game with the ball. The Commerce offensive plan to run the ball and eat up the clock showed early, as they put together a touchdown drive that took over six minutes and put them up 7-0. Mount Vernon failed to get any traction on offense and punted. Commerce added to its lead with another touchdown but did not convert the two-point try. Junior Jackson Grey connected with senior Hunter Carroll on a 65-yard pass play to put them in scoring position at the Commerce 10-yard line. Grey rushed the ball in for the score. After a failed two-point conversion, Commerce's lead was 13-6 as the first quarter ended.
Commerce controlled the clock again with a seven-minute drive to open the second quarter. However, the Mount Vernon defense stiffened near the goal line and forced Commerce to kick a 21-yard field goal to extend the lead to 16-6.
Mount Vernon turned the ball over on downs on its next possession, but sophomore Rylan Carrascosa picked off a Commerce pass and returned the ball to the Commerce 22-yard line. Grey found senior Brayden Baker in the end zone. Another miss on the two-point try set the score at 16-12 at the end of the first half.
Commerce pushed its lead out to 23-12 early in the third quarter. Mount Vernon responded with a 12-play drive capped off by a two-yard touchdown run by senior Brycen Fountain. Grey and Baker converted the two-point try. At the end of the third quarter, Mount Vernon trailed Commerce 23-20.
The Mount Vernon defense forced Commerce into a turnover on downs to start the fourth quarter, but a fumble cost the home team the ball. Commerce failed to convert on a second straight fourth down, giving the ball back to Mount Vernon. An interception returned for a touchdown by Commerce stretched the lead to 30-20, and Commerce would hold on to seal the win.
“Well, I felt like our kids played really hard the entire night,” Mount Vernon head coach and athletic director Travis McClain said after the game. “Our defense played a great game. Late in the game, we lost some of our consistency offensively.”
The loss is Mount Vernon’s first in district play this season. Its 2-1 record in district play ties the Tigers with the Winnsboro Red Raiders, who are their next opponents. Coach McClain and the Tigers know this rivalry game is something special for both communities.
“I think it gives a little bit of juice to everybody in this community,” he said. “This game has been played much longer than any of us have been here, and it'll continue to be played, and the battle lines have been drawn deep between Winnsboro and Mount Vernon.”
The Red Raiders are 6-1 on the season. Their only loss came in a 35-7 game against Malakoff on Friday night.
“Coach Finney does a great job with that program over there. So we got an uphill battle that we gotta reset, recalibrate, and get ready to go back to work,” McClain said.
McClain looks for the Mount Vernon faithful to travel with the team to Winnsboro this Friday. “Any time that we can travel with a big purple wave, I think it definitely gives us an advantage,” he said. “And we've seen this community do it before, and we need them to show up, show out, wear purple, and be loud next week too.”
Mount Vernon and Winnsboro kick off on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. in Winnsboro.
