By Jerry Lindsey
The Morrison Mustangs are experiencing a year that most teams only dream about on their worst night. The sidelines are dotted with players on crutches, arms in slings and jerseys without shoulder pads as the team enters the field in its customary hand-holding walk with only twelve varsity players in the formation. Even the team captains in the coin flip are substitutes as the elected captains watch from the sidelines. But, the team understands the challenge before them and appears ready to take on the Storm from Bureau Valley.
The Mustang defense stopped the Storm offense on their opening possession when Noah Blacklock threw quarterback Parker Neufalfen for a nine-yard loss to force a punt after four snaps. The Mustangs fumbled their opening play and Bureau Valley took possession on the Morrison 43-yard line. Aided by a 34-yard scamper by Tucker Schoff, the Storm needed only three plays to find the end zone and the lead 6-0 with 8:50 left in quarter one.
The Mustangs responded to the challenge and generated a twelve play, 66-yard drive featuring a 23-yard end run by Ryan Mayberry and tied the score with 2; 05 on the clock when Austin Shoup scored from the one-yard line to tie the score. The Storm’s next possession ended the quarter and started the second period with a punt that was mishandled and the Storm recovered the fumble on the Morrison 24-yard line. Four plays and 24-yards later, the Storm regained the lead on a 9-yard burst up the middle by halfback Tommy Johnston and the score move to 14-6 in favor of the Storm. The ensuing on-side kick surprised the front line of the Mustangs and Bureau Valley recovered the loose ball on the Morrison 49-yard line. Johnston covered 42-yards on the second snap and finished the scoring drive with a nine-yard escape into the end zone to push the Storm advantage to 22-6. The Mustangs didn’t waste any time in retaliation as quarterback Mason Sitzmore connected with Noah Blacklock on a 65-yard pass completion that moved Morrison within 8 points of the Storm at the 8:05 mark of the first half.
The Storm used five minutes of the clock to grind out a 41-yard scoring drive and put the Mustangs down 28-14 with only 2:55 left in the half. The Mustangs are confident they can move the ball against the Storm and only had to control the ball and they are very capable of staying with the visitors from the south. The next Mustang series ended on the second snap as the Storm’s Johnston intercepted Sitzmore and returned the steal to the 13-yard line where teammate Tucker Schoff finished the drive on the next play with a scamper into the endzone.34-14 Storm! Andy Bird started the ensuing drive with a 16-yard run off right tackle, but two plays later Neufalfen stepped in front of the intended receiver, Ryan Mayberry and intercepted another Sitzmore aerial and did some cross-field tackle evasion and returned the interception for another Storm touchdown with 51.6 seconds remaining in the half. The deficit expanded to 42 -14 as the Mustangs headed into the halftime.
To the Mustang’s credit, they entered the second half with first ball possession and immediately marched 55-yards and scored on a Sitzmore to Austin Keller 15-yard touchdown pass to move the score to 20-42. Realizing the limited manpower of the Mustangs, the Storm ground out an eleven play, 51-yard scoring drive that was aided by two Morrison penalties and ended with a 5-yard Neuhalfen push to make the score 20-48 in favor of the visitors. The Mustangs went to the air on their next possession and the drive ended in a punt six snaps later and the Storm regained possession on their own 21-yard line. The evening’s toll on the Mustangs was evident as Bureau Valley ran off gains of 8, 13, and 18 yards before Will Konnect broke loose up the middle on a 40-yard scoring run to expand the deficit to 56-20 with 1;32 left on the third quarter clock. To end the fateful third quarter, the Mustangs’ Tate Renkes fumbled the last snap of the quarter and it was recovered by the Storm on the Morrison 34-yard line.
The fourth quarter saw members of the fresh-soph team man many positions as the outcome was not in doubt and the Mustangs couldn’t afford to lose any more varsity players. With that being the case, Kasey Hodge was flagged for a personal foul on a Bureau Valley punt and ejected from any further action this night and the penalty restricts him from play next Friday night also.
With Justin Jensen under center, the Mustangs generated a scoring drive that ended with a Jensen to Merik Kennady pass completion for a touchdown with 3; 22 left in the game and formed the final score of 56-26 in favor of the Bureau Valley Storm.
The offensive stats don’t reflex the final score and magnifies the effect of turnovers and giving the opposition good field position to start their offensive action.
Morrison: passing-6/20 = 110 yards rushing: 141 yards
Bureau Valley: passing-3/5 = 28 yards rushing: 331 yards (Johnston 120, Schoff 92)
The Mustangs will host the Rockridge Rockets in a Homecoming contest next Friday night ,October 11, 2013.