MOUNT VERNON — Reed Rus rumbled his way to four rushing touchdowns and Mount Vernon/Plankinton stayed undefeated on Friday.

With a heavy dose of quarterback runs, Rus racked up 117 rushing yards on 25 carries and scored all four touchdowns in the Titans’ 30-7 win over Jim River. The Class 11B No. 5 Titans finished with 222 rushing yards on 57 carries and zero passing yards. 

“We passed the ball a couple times and it didn’t even go very well when we did,” said Rus, who attempted four passes. “We just got back to running it and it went well.” 

Drew Gerlach added 50 rushing yards on 10 carries, while Christopher Mayer (39 rushing yards) and Brady Fox (16 yards) added to the rushing total. 

“Chris and Drew with the two wing backs are seniors that have been starting for three and four years,” MVP coach Brent Olson said. “So they are pretty darn good players themselves and not only are they great runners, they are very, very good blockers at the wing back position.” 

The Titans (4-0) held Jim River (1-3) to 184 total yards — 137 rushing yards and 47 passing yards. The Trappers scored the game’s first points, a 38-yard touchdown run by Ajay Herrboldt with 6:17 left in the first quarter. 

“That was kind of the one play where we kind of got stuck in a bad situation there,” said Rus, who added 7.5 tackles. “We had a bad call and they just got the best of us. They just beat us there and that’s just a good play by Jim River. We made some adjustments and after that it was pretty smooth.” 

Jim River's Ajay Herrboldt (42) carries the ball against Mount Vernon/Plankinton on Friday in Mount Vernon. (Ryan Deal / 605 Sports)

Rus’ first-quarter touchdown run made it 7-6. In the second quarter, the Trappers drove down the field and into MVP’s territory. However, Blaine Bohr halted the drive with an interception in the red zone and returned it near midfield. 

“It was a great play by Blaine,” Olson said. “They got a post play on him a little bit early and it was a little shallower than he had practiced and seen in practice. The next time he stepped right in front of the thing and it was a great adjustment by him and a great play.”

Rus punched in a five-yard touchdown run for a 14-7 lead. Rus’ third-quarter 27-yard touchdown run on fourth down stretched the lead to 22-7. Rus scored his fourth touchdown in the fourth quarter to reach the final margin. 

“We kind of wore them out and you could kind of see that in the second half,” Olson said. “We started getting a little bit bigger gains and we started moving the football.” 

Herrboldt finished with 132 rushing yards on 21 carries and the Jim River’s lone touchdown. 

“We knew they were capable of power running,” Olson said. “But the last couple of games they kind of started spreading it out and last year they got us in big trouble with their spread. So not that we hadn’t prepared for power, but we were kind of 60-40 thinking spread and they came out and jammed it right down us. We kind of had to adjust a little bit and we were happy our kids responded.”

Jim River plays at Baltic on Sept. 16. Mount Vernon/Plankinton plays at Rapid City Christian on Sept. 17.