If the perfect ‘Friday Night Lights’ scenario is possible it may have occurred at Friday’s Homecoming game between the Fulton Steamers and the Morrison Mustangs. Both teams have started the season with victories and stumbled and are looking to regroup to advance into postseason. Now add to the drama that the schools are located 12 miles apart, expectations run high for this rivalry plus they are playing for the annual retention of the Wooden Shoe trophy. No one left E.M. Bud Cole field feeling disappointed in the effort these two teams put forth in their desire to earn the Wooden Shoe even though the Homecoming crowd would have preferred to be on the other end of the 38-30 final score.
Team statistics were similar in all categories which explains why the final score was not determined until only 15.1 seconds remained in the game. Morrison led in ground yardage gained (334 to 257) and in passing yardage (6/7 =116 to 5/5=71) and both team featured a durable fullback with Fulton’s Austin Schroeder carrying 21 times for 84 yards and Morrison’s Aaron Deter gaining 84 yards in 20 carries.
The action started with a Fulton 63 yard / 8 play drive into the endzone on a Schroeder 6-yard dive and an added Schroeder conversion made it 8-0 before the Mustangs touched the ball. The ensuing kickoff ended with a Fulton penalty that gave the Mustang a first down on the Fulton 28-yard line. Quarterback Reilly Dolan immediately found a crossing Ben Brackemeyer for a 24-yard pass completion and Grant Slater followed with a 4-yard score. A high snap aided a short extra point attempt and the first quarter ended with the Steamers up 8-6.
Fulton added six on the scoreboard with an opening second quarter drive that covered 58 yards and featured a 23-yard touchdown and a 2-point conversion by Schroeder. Morrison responded immediately by completing a 10-play drive that saw Deter caring seven times including the 3-yard score and the 2-point conversion and the score moved to 14-16 with 5:11 left in the half.
The Morrison defense stopped the next Fulton possession with hard tackles for two losses on Schroeder by Riley Wilkens and Aaron Deter giving the Mustangs the ball on their own 22-yard line with 2:13 left in the half. Following a 12-yard Slater run, Dolan went to the air and connected with Ben Brackemeyer for gains of 12 and 22 yards before hitting him over the middle where Brackemeyer wasn’t going to be stopped and stepped into the endzone with 56 seconds remaining. Tristan DeMay added the 2-point conversion and the Mustangs were planning to enter the half with a 22-16 lead. Riley Wilkens sacked Bryce Grant for a 7-yard loss on the Steamers next possession and the clock rolled down to 25 seconds when Grant connected with Andrew Knudsen for a 59-yard pass completion that put the ball on the 10-yard line. Schroeder drove to the 5-yard line and Grant flipped a soft pass to Nathan McLuckie in the endzone with 8.9 seconds remaining in the half. Austin Rash finished the scoring in the half with the 2-point conversion and the teams left the field all even at 22 each.
The conditions of the evening ( 84 degrees at kickoff) didn’t appear to slow the intensity of the play as both lines were executing aggressively and the defenses were making some punishing tackles to make the anticipation of the second half for the fans plenty to talk about during the halftime break.
The second half started where the first half left off with hard hitting and grueling line play as the Mustangs marched 63 yards on 11 plays to score with 7:56 on the clock. The 2-point conversion was slow to develop but ended when Dolan scrambled to his left and completed a pass to a sliding Grant Slater and the Homecoming fans were enjoying the 30-22 advantage.
The Mustang defense stopped the Steamers on a fourth and six on their first possession and the offense quickly moved to the Fulton 28-yard line where Dolan was intercepted by Max Lemke who was finally caught at the Morrison 10-yard line and the momentum shifts continued. Grant immediately threw a strike to Nathan McLuckie into the end zone to up the score to 28-30. The tying 2-point conversion was scored by McLuckie for a 30-30 tie. Morrison went three and out and the next Steamer possession involved a Grant fumble in front of the Morrison bench area that was recovered by Ben Brackemeyer. Extra action on the fumble recovery ended with the ejection of the Steamer quarterback Bryce Grant and the Mustangs started the fourth quarter with the ball on the Fulton 39-yard line. An eight play drive featuring carries by Slater and Deter set up a fourth and seven situation at the Fulton 10-yard line. Dolan dropped back to pass and was immediately sacked by Larson Barett for an 8-yard drive ending loss. Each team had a failed possession that set up the final drive by Fulton at the 4:49 mark on the clock and the ball sitting on their own 31-yard line. The next ten plays were action packed as Austin Rash carried 5 times for 28-yards, Schroeder carried twice for 13 yards, substitute QB Max Lemke fumbled three times recovering each himself and the clock ran down to 25.5 when Lemke dropped back and looped a pass toward the end zone where the 6’-4” Tyler Bruggenwirth fought off two smaller Mustang defenders to make the catch and fall into the end zone with 15.1 on the clock. Rash bulled in for the 2-point conversion to make the final score 38-30.
The losing score is a disappointment for any Homecoming game, but this game was as entertaining as anyone could ask for and players of both sides should go home tired, but proud to have played in a game that is truly a tribute to high school sports and high school athletes.