Chris Hugo, Section618.com
Mt. Vernon — Two minutes of possession is all the Mt. Vernon Rams needed to beat the Granite City Warriors at Ken Hunt Stadium on Friday night.
The Rams cruised early to a 47-0 halftime lead after only possessing the football for two total minutes on seven TD drives. Navontae Nesbit, Jr. scored the first of his six touchdowns on the Rams very first offensive play finding pay dirt from 29-yards out. Less than two minutes later another Granite City drive stalled and the Rams first play was a 51-yard TD run as the Rams led 14-0.
Granite City managed to control the clock on their next drive and took advantage of a 15-yard penalty to move the ball near midfield but a Zaryan Williams sack dashed the Warriors’ hopes and they punted to the Rams’ 28 yard-line. The first play saw running back Mylan Nettles break tackles for a 34-yard run which then led to quarterback Malakai Mays find a 17-yard keeper of his own. Mays promptly found Equinton Millsap for a 20-yard catch and run into the end zone to stretch the lead to 21-0.
The Warriors next drive also stalled deep in their own territory and saw the Rams’ Drew Wheeler initiated and recovered a blocked punt by Colter Pokojski at the 18-yard line. The very next play was Nesbit time as he scored from 18-yards out extending the lead to 27-0. Truman Carnine’s streak of the evening’s made point after attempts was snapped after a couple of Mt. Vernon penalties pushed them back to a 30-yard attempt that was ultimately blocked.
Granite City’s next drive was much of the same and following an Aiden Weems sack of Warriors’ QB Jack Brooks they took a knee at the end of the first quarter and open up the second quarter with a punt deep in their own territory.
After the punt made it to the Mt. Vernon 48-yard line, Nesbit scored on the first play for a 58-yard touchdown with 11:37 remaining in the half.
Equinton Millsap ended the Warriors next drive on the first play picking off a Warrior pass at the 41-yard line and returning 33-yards to the Granite City 8. That’s all Nesbit needed as he found an 8-yard score and subsequent Jack Laughlin kick to extend the Rams’ lead to 40-0 with 9:47 left in the half.
The Warriors next drive ended in confusion after a 3-and-out led to a punt attempt. The snap was off target and led to a pass thrown downfield. After the Rams let it fall incomplete they found themselves at the Granite City 43-yard line. Nesbit scored again on the very first play and Laughlin’s kick gave us our halftime score.
After the running clock began in the second half, the Rams added a Jayden Morales touchdown along with a David Barnes forced safety in the third quarter. Jack Kessler punched in a touchdown in the fourth quarter and the Rams would win 62-0.
Nesbit finished with 6 carries for 208 yards and 6 touchdowns on the night and how has 1,094 rushing yards and 13 rushing TDs on the season. Mays was 1/1 passing for 20 yards and a TD. Kessler finished with 3 carries for 26 yards and a TD. Millsap had one reception for 20 yards and a TD.
The Rams are now 4-3 and travel to Centralia next week. That game can be heard on WMIX-FM 94.1 and WRXX-FM 95.3 and their respective feeds on the Section618.com App.