Yellow Jackets’ historic playoff run ends with loss to Ashland

This season, the Mount Vernon football team found out what it takes to make the playoffs.

Friday night, they discovered how much more work was needed to take the next step and win in the playoffs.

The Yellow Jackets fell to Ashland, 56-21, in the first round of the Div. II playoffs at Ashland.

“Eventually, everybody loses. When you play a really good team, sometimes you get beat,” said Mount Vernon coach Mark Weber. “We’ve got a young team, we’ve got some older guys in there, but we’ve got a really young team and tonight it showed when you’re play a veteran team like this. That’s a nice team. That’s a good team.

“Now we have an aiming point on where we need to get to, as far as the technical skill they had and just the precision. You could tell they practiced with precision, you could tell the lift with precision; they run routes with precision. Now these guys have seen a team like that they need to aim for. I think you’ll see that if they want to keep sticking to it.”

The Yellow Jackets (6-5) were in their first playoff game since 1993 and ran into a buzzsaw with Ashland and quarterback Nathan Bernhard.

The 6-foot-6 All-Ohio quarterback showed why he will be playing Division I college football next year, passing for 317 yards and five touchdowns on the night. He connected on 17 of 23 passes on the night.

Bernhard, an Appalachian State University signee, got the Arrows (10-1) going early, hitting Killian O’Brien for a 27-yard TD pass on their first drive.

Mount Vernon answered quickly, scoring on a 71-yard run by quarterback Mason Richards.

But, Bernhard led the Arrows to three quick scores to blow the game open. After running one in from 14 yards out, Bernhard hit O’Brien for a 12-yard TD and then Gabe Baith for 56 yards and another score.

“We’ve seen some good runners, but we haven’t seen a passer like that. Let’s give some credit to their receivers. His receivers caught them, his receivers were on the same page, and I think that’s his leadership. They want to play hard for that kid,” Weber said.

MV fought back, scoring on a 1-yard run by Richards with 3:50 left in the half. But, once again, Bernhard took over, hitting Baith on a 32-yard scoring strike and O’Brien on a 17-yarder in the final minutes of the half to put a dagger in the Jackets’ chances.

The Jackets thought they gained some momentum late in the third quarter when Richards hit Zach Busenburg for a 34-yard TD. But, Baith returned the kickoff for an 87-yard TD to end any threats.

Richards led the Jackets with 120 yards rushing and two TDs. He also completed 5 of 10 passes for 56 yards. The senior finished his final season with 1,505 yards rushing and 22 touchdowns, as well as 806 yards passing and 11 TDs.

Freshman Jake Hubbard added 81 yards on the ground, while Bryce Kreager caught two passes for 19 yards. Dammon Wolfe caught two passes and Busenburg had the 34-yard TD reception.

Defensively, Luke Mullins had another monster game, recording 10 tackles and a sack. Liam Richards, Cash Ewers and Carter Hill each had two solo tackles.

While the ending was not as good as they hoped for, the Jackets did manage to break through this year, finishing in a tie for second in the Licking County League and qualifying for the first playoff game since 1993.

“I think it’s a step forward, but with that comes a lot of responsibility to uphold that standard. It’s not going to be given. I think it’s a step forward. We’re not talking 2-8 right now, we’re talking 6 and whatever and we’ve got a chance to play a high-quality team in a bonus game,” Weber said. “I think it will definitely get more kids in the hallways out because they see something winning. But at the end of the day, the kids that show up still have to want to work hard, still want to put the time in. I think it builds your culture a little bit and what you’re about. But, ultimately that momentum, you still have to show up for practice and work for 2 ½ hours, you’re still going to have to lift, you’re still going to have to run.

“I don’t know that that momentum does a ton. I think the way you treat the kids when they are with you, that’s what really matters. Do you love them up after a loss like this or do you treat them like they’re losers? Even though they lost the game, we’re still going to treat them good and still going to try to build the program. You don’t build a house with negativity. We’re going to continue to build the program. This is definitely a steppingstone. But it doesn’t guarantee anything.”