By Richard Polen
The Joplin Globe
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Carl Junction will play away from home for the second consecutive week when it faces Mount Vernon at 7 p.m. today in a Big 8 Conference matchup.
The Bulldogs, coming off a 38-7 loss at Lamar, will be up against a Mount Vernon team that was outscored 39-21 by Rogersville in its season opener.
“Mount Vernon for the last several years has had good skill athletes who run and throw the ball well, and that’s the case this year, too,” Carl Junction head coach Jesse Wall said. “They are also kids who are very elusive and can get out of trouble.”
The Mountaineers, in an effort to come from behind, went to the air against Rogersville. Senior quarterback M.J. Swortwood completed 17 of 30 passes for 236 yards and three touchdowns.
Rogersville limited Swortwood to 52 yards rushing and running back Hunter Brown to 51 rushing yards.
“They are a run team first, but at the same time we have to take care of the pass as well,” Wall said. “They can run. They have a bunch of kids who play very hard and make plays.”
Establishing the running game is important for Carl Junction’s offense, Wall said. Running back Trent Landes was held to 23 yards on 16 carries last week against Lamar.
“In order for our offense to be successful, we have to run the ball,” Wall said. “If we can’t run the ball, we’re going to have trouble throwing the ball.
“Anybody who plays us is going to tell you the same thing. We’ve worked with our offensive line this week and changed things up a little bit. We have to do a better job getting off the ball.”
Mount Vernon’s defense is led by senior linebacker Caleb Sayre, who was an all-conference second-team selection last year. Carl Junction rallied in overtime and defeated Mount Vernon 23-17 in last season’s matchup.
“It isn’t just one guy,” Wall said. “They have 11 guys who run to the ball and make plays. They have multiple looks on defense, but more importantly, we need to take care of ourselves and fly to the football,” Wall said. “We’ll have to play much better than last week to come out with a win.”
