Vikings, Wildcats continue to learn in intra-squad games

Former Mount Vernon standout Grant Doherty scores against current Wildcats midfielder Whitaker Hartman during the program’s first alumni game Friday, July 24, at Mount Vernon High School. Photo by Dennis Marshall

By Dennis Marshall

The two things that matter most in early August — clean health and real competitive work — showed up on both sides of Posey County on Saturday, Aug. 8.

Mount Vernon and North Posey each put their players through an extended intrasquad scrimmage, giving coaches the first full-speed, full-pad evaluation of the preseason before the regular season arrives in a few short weeks.

“It was a great opportunity for our guys to go out there and just play and be free,” Mount Vernon coach Brad Higginson said.

The Wildcats turned the evening into a full Community Night that stretched from third grade through varsity, with more than 200 players in the program and every age group getting roughly 30 minutes on the field as younger teams competed for prizes in front of full stands and high energy while touchdowns were scored at every level.

The varsity Maroon-Grey work gave the staff its first extended look at live tackling. A point system rewarded first downs, takeaways, three-and-outs, touchdowns and explosive plays, putting clear value on both creating and stopping big gains.

“We’re really putting an emphasis on big plays — stopping big plays and creating big plays,” Higginson said.

The clearest progress on offense came in the physicality of the run game. Linemen consistently reached the second level and finished their blocks, while the backs attacked the line of scrimmage with enough power and burst to create longer gains.

“Our offensive linemen were downfield getting blocks, going to the next level, not watching the football,” Higginson said.

Senior captain Easton Hall produced several strong runs. Junior Ryan Lilleston showed clear speed on a perimeter play, and junior Saint Henderson worked through carries while also seeing time at tight end.

Sophomore Was Biggerstaff, already on the leadership council, continued to show the size and speed that give him a chance to stretch the field.

“He’s almost there as far as being a big-time playmaker,” Higginson said. “We just got to continue to push him from an overall standpoint and give him an opportunity to get out of his comfort zone a little bit.”

The run game carried the clearer physical signs of progress, though Higginson also noted the offense completed some good passes and still needs to finish those plays more consistently.

Defensively, the Wildcats were consistently around the football with multiple defenders getting to the ball. The staff still wants cleaner pursuit and more consistent finishing on tackles.

Senior Maddex Salee delivered one of the sharper moments of the night with a strong open-field tackle in the backfield.

“For the most part the older guys did a really good job of alignment, assignment, technique,” Higginson said. “The younger guys — we still got to play some catch-up and get them caught up.”

North Posey took a different approach earlier in the day at Joe Gengelbach Field, going pure offense versus defense for roughly 75 to 80 minutes. The Vikings also came out healthy after competitive work, which head coach Waylon Schenk listed as the top priority.

“All that you want to get out of that is coming out of there healthy,” he said. “So that’s a good thing, because we got out of there healthy and got good reps in — competitive reps. Guys got after it.”

What stood out most was the sheer number of ways North Posey could attack. The offense created constant conflicts, forcing the defense to choose which threat to take away and which ones to live with.

“Just the number of weapons that we have on the field offensively,” Schenk said. “For me being the play caller on the defensive side of the ball, I realized real quick you’re kind of picking your poison. They hit us with a big run, so you’d try to load up on the run the next play, and then you’ve got four or five different receivers out there that you’re trying to chase around.”

Schenk said the offense looked synchronized in a way it had not earlier in camp.

“For the first time our offense really clicked on all cylinders and the ball was being spread around,” he said. “It showed how explosive this group can be. If we can find a way to get everybody touches, it’s going to be a fun year offensively.”

The next step comes Friday, Aug. 14, when Mount Vernon opens its outside scrimmage schedule at Evansville Harrison and North Posey travels to Princeton.”