Football: Mount Vernon lives up to the moment, christens the new Memorial Field

MOUNT VERNON - Although he looks young for a head coach, Mark Murray graduated from Mount Vernon in 2006. That means he's old enough to have played at the old Memorial Field and understand its significance – tradition, warts and all.

But when Murray spoke to his players leading up to the reopening of this famed Westchester County landmark, he reminded them it was time for new memories.

"This is their field. I didn't play on this field. I didn't play on this turf. I didn't play in this atmosphere," Murray said. "This is something they have accomplished today. And this is the first win of the new Memorial Field. We had our time. This is their time right now."

A new era dawned auspiciously Saturday, doing so in front of dignitaries and thousands of fans who packed the new bleachers. The Knights started with a flourish and went on to beat the Yonkers Force 32-24 in Memorial Field's first game in 14 years.

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"It got us going good, but we didn't let the hype get to us," said senior Faishuan Boyd, who caught two touchdowns. "Everybody was coming in a little nervous, but we didn't pay it no mind. It was just another game of football and we did well."

So well, in fact, that the offense scored on its first four drives of the game. The Knights opened the game with a seven-play march and senior Zavion Vassel capped it with a 27-yard run that produced the first touchdown on the new turf.

Vassel later added a 55-yard scoring run on the heels of Boyd's touchdown catches of 52 and 21 yards from quarterback Isaiah Dedier.

Dedier, a senior, went 7 for 11 for 105 yards and Vassel and senior Jaiden Hamilton combined for 208 yards on the ground.

"This was new to us, and having all this crowd out here, it was a good thing," Dedier said. "It boosted our confidence more. To play at Memorial the first time and bring home the victory means a lot to us."

The celebration included pregame speeches from Westchester County executive George Latimer and Mount Vernon mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard. The mayor participated in the opening coin toss, then stayed on the sideline in a Mount Vernon jersey and cheered on the team all four quarters.

The Knights were held scoreless in the second half, but they didn't waiver. After the Force scored to pull within 32-24 on the opening drive of the second half, Mount Vernon's defense, led by Vassel and senior lineman Nazir John, held Yonkers scoreless. The unit finished with four sacks and received an interception from senior Jarid Collins with the Force threatening.

The Force received 145 yards and two touchdowns rushing from quarterback Alvin Martinez, who also threw a touchdown to Angel Aquino. But Yonkers, which dropped to 2-2, saw its final drive stall when a fourth-down completion came up short of the marker near midfield.

Not long after Mount Vernon's celebrated its win, Murray, who took over the struggling program in 2020, discussed what it meant to christen the new complex with a win. His team improved to 2-1 in the process, beating a Force team that won its first two games and played reigning Class AA state champion Carmel tough last week.

"I explained to them that you have to have some sense of pride in Mount Vernon, to play here in front of all these people. They showed that today, that they love their city, they did this for their city and for the town and for themselves," Murray said. "They understood the magnitude of this game today. We explained to them that the moment was going to be really and how you played up to it was going to be everything. They did that in amazing fashion, especially in the first half."

Josh Thomson is the Sports Editor for The Journal News, Poughkeepsie Journal and Middletown Times Herald-Record. He can be reached by e-mail at jthomson@lohud.com, on Twitter at @lohudinsider, and on Instagram at @lohudinsider.