The Morrison Ponies found a different way to make a game close. They fumbled away the ball on five of their nine possession and this made for a closer game then the coaches would have liked, but they held as Fulton made a fourth quarter surge. Morrison 14 Fulton 8
Fulton started the game on their own 31-yard line and marched to the Morrison 30 before failing on a fourth and four pass from Jack Lemke to Kenny Ramig. Each team went three and out on their next possessions before Morrison ended the quarter on the Fulton 10-yard line. On the first play of quarter two, Austin Keller hit Noah Blackloch in the end zone for the first touchdown of the game. Mason Sitzmore ran the extra point conversion in to make the score 8-0. The scoring series was highlighted by a 14-yard run by Sitzmore and a 28-yard scamper by Andy Bird.
Fulton failed to gain a first down and punted to the Ponies following the score. Morrison’s Keller threw on first down and was intercepted by Ramig on the Fulton 45 –yard line to start the frustrating chain of turnovers by the Ponies. The Fulton drive ended after one first down when they failed on a fourth and seven with an incomplete pass by Lemke. Morrison’s next possession gained two first downs but was handicapped by two fumbled handoffs and a penalty prior to the change of possession punt with 1:22 left in the half. Half: Morrison 8 Fulton 0
The halftime speech must have be strong as the Ponies opened the second half on their own 24 –yard line and generated a fifteen play drive that ended with Andy Bird carrying the final four yards into the end zone. Sitzmore was unsuccessful in crossing the end line for the two point conversion and the score was 14-0 with 3:49 left in the third quarter. What followed would frustrate any coach and the fans saw Morrison recover a Fulton fumble on the second play of their drive. After six plays, Morrison returned the favor and fumbled the pigskin back to the Steamers. The Pony defense stopped the Steamers and when Fulton attempted a punt the center snap went over the punters head into the end zone, but quick thinking allowed Fulton punter to scramble and get off the kick on the run. Three Morrison snaps later, Morrison’s Micheal Popkin coughed up the elusive football and Fulton was again able to recover on the Morrison 41-yard line. Fulton’s Rodney Goddard took the first snap and ran around the left end and down the Morrison sideline for a 59-yard touchdown. Tristan Smith ran the extra point conversion to make the score 14-8 with only 2:41 remaining in the game. Following the kickoff, Andy Bird lost control of the ball after earning a first down and again Fulton had possession with 2:19 on the clock. The game was finally sealed for the Ponies when Leather Lewis intercepted a Lemke pass with 1:21 left and the Steamers were out of time-outs so the Ponies just kneed the game out and went home with a 14-8 win.
The Ponies were able to gain 198 yards on the ground with Bird gaining 87 and Sitzmore adding 61 yards to the total. The defense allowed only 133 total yards of which one was the 59-yard touchdown.
The Ponies will close out their season next week at home against the Bureau Valley Storm.