It was a titanic struggle. After 130 plays from scrimmage and 41 minutes of football, the score was tied, 20-20.

The Mount Vernon Tigers slotted a field goal and held off the Mineola Yellowjackets, who fell 23-20 in Mount Vernon last Friday.

For East Texas football fans, the game was a study in football philosophy. The Tigers threw the ball on 54% of their snaps, and most of those passes went to wide receiver screens. They burned about ten seconds between snaps. 

The Yellowjackets did not waver from their power running game. Trevion Sneed carried the ball 30 times for 136 yards. The Jackets did mix timely passes into the offensive scheme, two of which went for long scores. 

Both teams played excellent defense. One telling fact in the game was that Mount Vernon had no two-way starters, while Mineola had at least six players who rarely came off the field. 

One of the best games of 2020 began with the Yellowjackets forcing a Mount Vernon punt. Mineola promptly drove 66 yards – all on the ground – to score on their opening possession. Sneed carried ten times on the drive and scored on a direct snap over the left side from eight yards out. 

The Tigers answered with a 61-yard scoring drive, all of it through the air. 

The Mineola score had consumed five and one half minutes off the clock; the Mount Vernon score came in under two minutes. 

The Yellowjackets held off the Tigers on the next scoring threat. Sophomore T.J. Moreland made an excellent play, departing from his coverage and adjusting to the pass in flight to intercept a Tiger pass in the end zone.      

The Tigers defense had stiffened after that initial Mineola drive. The home side had gone from absorbing the blocking schemes to shedding the blocks and penetrating. After the initial score, Mineola stalled on the next two possessions. 

Mount Vernon scored on a nicely-thrown post route from 35 yards out with eight minutes to play in the half. 

The game was at a critical juncture. The Yellowjackets were under intense pressure offensively and defensively. In what may very well come to define the character of the 2020 team, they put together a tough 68-yard drive for a score. At the half, it was Mount Vernon 14, Mineola 13. 

That drive combined power running by Sneed and Dawson Pendergrass, a fourth-and-2 conversion (Sneed over the left side), overcoming a big penalty, and a beautiful reverse roll-out fly route to Pendergrass for the score. 

Mount Vernon came out on the front foot after halftime and took an early 20-13 lead. The score came on an 18-yard quarterback draw. 

Mineola evened the score late in the third quarter. Moreland made an aggressive play in the secondary to knock away a Mount Vernon pass on a fourth down, giving Mineola the ball near midfield. On a third-and-12, Moreland connected with Pendergrass on a weak side post route for a 61-yard score. 

As the fourth quarter began, the Tigers took possession on their 36 yard line and began a 21-play drive. Frantic Mineola defending and several untimely penalties kept the Tigers out of the end zone. They took the lead, 23-20, with 6:36 to play. 

The last three possessions of the game were pure high anxiety. The Yellowjackets squandered a 45-yard Sneed run and turned the ball over on downs at midfield. 

Mount Vernon likewise turned the ball over on downs as the Jacket defense stuffed the Tigers on a fourth-and-3. 

With 1:20 on the clock, the Yellowjackets had the ball with a win 55 yards away. It just was not to be. A fourth down run attempt came up inches shy of a first down, and Mount Vernon took the win.   

The game settled little in the argument over “pass vs. run dominant offenses.” The total play counts were almost equal. Mount Vernon ran 79 plays from scrimmage with Mineola logging 67. The one constant to the game was exceptional defensive play by both sides.

Mineola will host Pottsboro Friday in what will likely be yet another exhilarating Friday night.