Mt. Pleasant ground game grinds down Burrell in second half

By: Mike Ciarochi
Friday, October 4, 2019 | 11:05 PM

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Tough defense and a never-say-die ground game lifted Mt. Pleasant to a convincing 34-18 win over Burrell in a key Big East Conference game Friday night.

Burrell took a 12-7 lead into the locker room at halftime, but the Vikings played a determined second half to run away with the win.

Jake Johnson, limited to 5 first-half rushing yards, rumbled for 195 and three touchdowns in the second half to lead the Vikings. He finished with 200 yards on 23 carries, while teammate Nick Loughner added 148 on 11 carries and scored twice.

“We practice running the ball all the time, and if we can catch a groove, we stick with it,” Mt. Pleasant coach Jason Fazekas said. “That’s what high school football is all about, running the ball, and at Mt. Pleasant, we take pride in running it.”

Defensively, the Vikings (3-4, 2-3) held the explosive Burrell passing game in check for most of the second half. The Bucs didn’t get a first down after halftime until 2 minutes, 26 seconds remained in the game. Burrell (4-3, 3-3) also was held to negative yards in the second half until that point, when quarterback Alex Arledge passed to Zach Miller for a 73-yard touchdown.

“Burrell is a good football team, well coached, very sharp offensively and can score at any time, so shutting them down was a big key for us,” Fazekas said.

“We didn’t have the ball much in the second half, but Mt. Pleasant deserves a lot of credit for that,” Burrell coach Shawn Liotta said. “They are a big, physical football team and they played very solid tonight.”

The Bucs were out of sync from the beginning, as they allowed a 64-yard TD run by Loughner on the second play from scrimmage.

“We didn’t play well the whole game, really,” Liotto said. “We gave them a cheap one early and they took advantage.”

Burrell still managed a five-point lead at the break, but Mt. Pleasant decided to take control in the third quarter, with Johnson leading the way.

“About midway through the third quarter, we had a tough third down coming up and I had a pass play called,” Fazekas said. “Jake came up to me and said, ‘I want the ball.’ So I changed the play and gave it to him. Wouldn’t you know he got us a big first down right then and there?”

Mt. Pleasant ran 31 plays in the second half, all of them runs.

The Vikings are at Elizabeth Forward next Friday, while Burrell hosts Freeport.

Tags: Burrell, Mt. Pleasant