Assistant Editor Jerry Lindsey wrote the report and photographed the action.
The settings for Friday Night football couldn’t have been more attractive, than when the Morrison Mustangs visited the Kewanee, IL, Boilermakers, on September 2, 2022. A calm, warm, fall evening welcomed the teams to a new, beautifully-constructed, artificial turf, of the quality being played on by colleges today. The fall sky held an orange half moon, and the field was lit with quality LED lighting. [It offered] a scene not often seen by our Mustang fans, but [it was] appreciated by all that attended.
The Mustangs scored on their first possession, when Danny Mouw found Freshman Brady Anderson open at mid-field and connected for a 49-yard touchdown pass, with 5:43 left in the quarter. Mouw followed the score with a two-point conversion pass to Chase Newman, and the Mustangs led 8-0. Three snaps later the Boilermakers retaliated, with a three-yard yard scoring pass from Brady Clark to Ricky Morales. The touchdown was set up by a 64-yard pass completion, that ended out of bounds on the three-yard line. Clark kicked the extra-point, and the quarter ended with the Mustangs leading 8-7.
The second quarter featured two, Clark-to-Nate Lockett 29-yard pass completions, that each set up a score. The first completion was followed by a 5-yard pass completion for a touchdown; the extra point kick failed. The second Lockett catch was followed by an 18-yard field goal by Brady Clark, with only five seconds remaining in the half, to up the Kewanee score to 16-8 at half.
The fourth quarter kept the fans excited. The opening possession of the Boilermakers ended when a Clark field goal was blocked by the Mustangs. Morrison immediately took advantage of the momentum. Mouw and Chase Newman connected for a 23 -yard pass completion. Six snaps later the combo connected again, for a 38-yard touchdown. The Mustangs were only down 16-14 with 3:49 left. The snap on the two-point conversion sailed over Mouw’s head. He was unable to recover, to execute the needed two-point attempt that would have tied the game. The Mustangs stopped Kewanee on a fourth-and-seven attempt to own the ball with 1:33 remaining. T
he offense couldn’t generate the needed yardage. A fourth down sack of Mouw ended the hopes of the Mustangs. They left the field with a 16-14 hard-fought loss.
Captions, top-to-bottom: Mustangs defense prepares to stop the Kewanee Boilermakers. Logan Baker (4) follows blockers on an end sweep. Aiden Dolieslager (66) keys on Kewanee’s Nate Lockett (23.)
