MOUNT VERNON – Despite loss after loss, head coach Brent Besancon never stopped working to build the Madison Rams into winners. Not just on the scoreboard, but in the game of life as well.
Friday, it finally came together.
The Rams played by far their most complete game all season under their first-year coach, dominating in all aspects and spoiling Mount Vernon’s Homecoming weekend with a 38-0 trouncing at Energy Field.
“We started out saying that we weren’t going to look at results. And we were getting better, week by week,” Besancon said. “Just to finish it off tonight the way we did, it was fun.”
Madison (1-7, 1-4 Ohio Cardinal Conference) scored on nearly every drive after its first. Many of the marches featured a big play that gave the Rams enough momentum to get to the end zone with comparative ease.
The first score came three plays after Madison punted on its first possession.
The Rams recovered a fumble after a miscue on a pitchout left the ball resting at the Mount Vernon 34. Freshman Camden Moysi hit a 28-yard field goal to open the scoring.
The Rams were forced to punt again, but the return was muffed and Madison recovered. Four plays later, Grayson Sasis scored from two yards out.
In the second quarter, quarterback Cameron Kuhn took a chance and aired the ball 40 yards downfield where Sasis made a leaping catch. The Rams had three first downs over the ensuing four plays, then scored on a 2-yard run by Khris Adkins-Tolbert.
“We noticed that our matchups were good at that time,” Besancon said. “We took a chance. He got up there and made that catch.”
While the offense was scoring, the defense allowed Mount Vernon to gain ground between the 20s. But the Yellow Jackets could not reach paydirt.
“This has happened a lot this year,” Besancon said. “We’ve managed to bend but not break all season. It’s not what we planned, but it’s happened. The difference was, tonight, our offense moved the football, and we protected the football.”
They didn’t even bend in the second half. The Jackets managed just 32 total yards after the midgame break.
Mount Vernon’s top offensive threat, Jonny Askew, injured his ankle early in the second quarter and was limited throughout the game. The senior managed just six yards on four carries, and 18 yards on three catches.
The Jackets (2-6, 1-4 OCC) were inspired by quarterback Mason Richards, who ran for 42 yards on nine carries, collecting five first downs – most of which came on third-down plays.
Mavrik Gregory led Mount Vernon with 57 rushing yards on nine attempts.
Kuhn completed 7 of 9 passes for one touchdown – a 30-yard strike to Justin McCraney. On the ground, Adkins-Tolbert rushed 16 times for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Kaleb Gordon and Eli Lewis also scored for Madison.
Madison Comprehensive has had, to put it mildly, a string of poor performances on the field.
Since winning two straight in early September 2016, the Rams had gone 3-68 prior to Friday’s victory.
This year’s seniors have had to play under three different head coaches. When Besancon took the job during the spring, his top priority was to bring stability to the program while instilling a sense of good sportsmanship and solid habits among his players.
Friday, it showed.
“Our kids have played some pretty clean football this year,” Besancon said. “Tonight, it was good to see we could put it all together – offense, defense and special teams. It was a good win for us.”
