NEW MARKET — Southmont football will have to wait a day later than normal to open up its 2023 campaign. The Mounties will welcome Fountain Central to New Market on Saturday night as the original referee crew for the game disbanded an no crew was available to replace them for Friday. Regardless Southmont has been up to the task the last two seasons winning six and seven games respectively and the Mounties return will have mix of veterans and newcomers for 2023.
Returning for the Mounties on offense is the reigning two-time Journal Review Football Player of the Year in senior fullback Wyatt Woodall. Joining Woodall will be receivers Aaron McMasters and Kyler McCandless. Leading the Mountie offense will be senior quarterback Nolan Boyer who after spending three seasons as a backup will get his chance to be the man under center.
South got their first live action against another opponent last Friday when the Mounties scrimmaged the Greencastle Tiger Cubs. Longtime Mountie coach Desson Hannum notes how his team felt good to get some film that his team can learn from as they prep for their season opener.
“It was nice to get out there and really hit someone else,” Hannum said of the scrimmage a week ago. “We got to play a little faster and was able to have success. We were aggressive on both ends and came away with a lot of scores. Defensively we were able to cause some turnovers so I was overall pleased with how played.”
Fountain Central a year ago went 4-7 under first year coach Herb King who has a great tradition of building programs back up. This season FC returns a talented crop of seniors that features quarterback Owen Acton and running back Dawson Blue. Acton rushed for 972 yards a year ago and 17 touchdowns while throwing for 888 yards and 11 scores. Blue added in 632 yards with seven TD’s. The Mustangs also feature experience on both ends of the line with players like Ely Thompson and Dallas Hoagland.
“Coach King has done a great job with them over there,” Hannum said of the Mustangs. “You could see the big improvements they made from when they played us in the first game to when we scrimmaged them this summer. They’re just more comfortable with everything and look much improved on both sides of the ball. It’s going to be a good game on Saturday. The difference in the game will be penalties and turnovers. Those things are always big keys but especially early in the season when you’re trying to start the year off on a positive note. We’re looking to get off the similar starts that we have the last two seasons and Saturday is a big step in that direction.”
The Mounties and Mustangs will kick things off from Southmont at 7 p.m. on Saturday night. You can catch a live broadcast of the game on WCDQ True Country 106.3 with Jared McMurry and Codey Emerson.
