Published: October 04, 2008 01:06 am            

Rams get the job done in 24-14 win over Carbondale

By JEREMY HALL

jeremy.hall@register-news.com

CARBONDALE — Bleyer Field was its usual house of horrors for Mt. Vernon, but the Rams managed to pull out a 24-14 win there on Friday.

The Rams, who had scored 40 or more points in their previous two games, scored 10 points in the final 10 minutes to finally put the Terriers behind them.

“This place just is not a good place for us to come and play football,” said Mt. Vernon coach Dan Mings. “We’re going to take the win. I’m going to be ecstatic.”

Mt. Vernon (4-2) won its fourth straight game and improved to 3-0 in the South Seven Conference, winning its ninth consecutive league game dating back to the 2006 season.

But to get to that point, the Rams had to stop a Carbondale team that recovered an inside kickoff at the game’s onset and took a quick 7-0 lead. The Terriers and Rams were tied at 14 through the third quarter and into the fourth before Mike Swinnen kicked a 35-yard field goal to give Mt. Vernon the lead for good with 9 minutes, 10 seconds left in the game.

After a defensive stop on fourth-and-two at the Rams’ 33-yard line, Mt. Vernon strung together a 67-yard scoring drive that was capped by a 1-yard touchdown plunge by running back Darrell Mitchell..

Mitchell had kept the drive alive for the Rams by taking a pitch from quarterback James Mulvaney and completing a pass to Eric Fowler.

Carbondale made a final charge upfield, but turned the ball over on downs at the Mt. Vernon-18 with just less than 2 minutes left to play.

“They came up big,” Mings said of his defenders. “They came up huge for us.”

Before Friday, Mt. Vernon had struggled in its two previous trips to Carbondale, losing 29-13 in 2004 and needing to eke out a last-minute 28-21 win two years ago.

Against the Terriers this week, the Rams were held below their season average in points and rushing yards. Mt. Vernon managed 240 yards of total offense, but had to work for nearly every inch of it.

“Carbondale is an incredibly physical football team,” said Mings. “People need to look out. They’re a good football team.”

After the Terriers’ early touchdown, Torrey Pollard gave the Rams a 14-6 lead on scoring runs of 68 and 45 yards on consecutive rushing attempts.

Carbondale drove and scored midway through the second quarter and tacked on the 2-point conversion to knot the score at 14 at halftime.

Neither team picked up a first down in the third quarter, with Carbondale running three plays and punting on four possessions and the Rams doing as much on three.

Pollard finished with 128 rushing yards on 12 carries, while Mitchell added 36 yards on 11 carries while completing the 27-yard pass to Fowler and catching two passes for 38 yards.

Mt. Vernon needs five wins or a conference championship to qualify for the playoffs for the sixth time in eight seasons under Mings. The Rams can accomplish both next week at home when they host Cahokia.

“That’s what we’re looking for,” said Mings. “[But] Cahokia is good. Everybody knows that.”



At Carbondale

Mt. Vernon 24, Carbondale 14

MV 14 0 0 10

Carbondale 6 8 0 0

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

C – Blaise 53-yard pass from Bryant (kick failed) 11:20.

M – Pollard 68-yard run (Swinnen kick) 10:26

M – Pollard 45-yard run (Swinnen kick) 6:18

Second Quarter

C – Treston 3-yard run (Treston run) 6:04

Fourth Quarter

M – Swinnen 35-yard field goal, 9:10

M – Mitchell 1-yard run (Swinnen kick) 2:46

Team Statistics

First Downs – Mt. Vernon 11, Carbondale 14. Penalties – Mt. Vernon 7-65, Carbondale 7-30. Fumbles-lost – Mt. Vernon 1-1, Carbondale 1-0.

Individual Statistics

Rushing

Mt. Vernon: Moore 7-32, Pollard 12-128, Mitchell 11-36, Mulvaney 3(-8). TOTALS: 33-188. Carbondale: Edwards 7-23, Bryant 12-25, Austin 15-50, Treston 4-3. TOTALS: 38-106.

Receiving

Mt. Vernon: Fowler 1-27, Mitchell 2-38. Carbondale: Blaise 1-53, Edwards 3-19, Clark 2-8, Reno 1-27, Bushur 2-31.

Passing

Mt. Vernon: Mulvaney 2-9-0 25, Mitchell 1-1-0 27. Carbondale: Bryant 9-22-2 138.

        

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