Getting competitive

MOUNT VERNON - Solon is Mount Vernon's bitter rival on the football field and the Spartans have won the last 12 meetings between the two teams.

On Sept. 5, the Mustangs took on the Spartans again in a non-district football game. Mount Vernon didn't fare very well, losing, 34-14.

The Mustangs started the game off with an 87-yard kick return to the Spartans 3-yard line. The Mustangs scored on the very next play when lineman Chris Chapman recovered a fumble. The rest of the half was dominated by the Spartans, however, and the score at intermission was 19-7 in favor of Solon.

Quarterback Tommy Hook had a tough time getting anything going for the Mustangs on offense. Hook was sacked five times before he left the game in the third quarter because of injury.

'We are running a completely new offense this year so we need to work on our assignments and timing,” Hook said. 'We just need to keep practicing and get lots of reps in and we should be competitive.”

The Mustangs couldn't get much going the rest of the game. Mount Vernon was held to only 24 yards of total offense with rushing yards in the negative. Solon had 205 rushing yards and 70 passing yards.

Mount Vernon beat Northeast last week, improving to 1-2. Solon (2-1) opened the season with a win over Iowa City Regina, breaking the Regals' 56-game win streak, before topping the Mustangs and losing to Cedar Rapids Xavier.