If you like community events, social gatherings, volunteer interaction, memorial recognition, good food, great weather, individual efforts, and, did I mention football?, then you would have enjoyed Friday night, June 27, 2014, at E. M. “Bud” Cole Field, 643 Genesee Avenue, Morrison, IL. The bleachers were packed, and standing room along the railing was several rows deep. Some blankets were spread in the west incline, so they could witness the Alumni Football USA “Dutch Bowl” between the alumni of Morrison High School and Fulton High School.
Following player introductions, a special tribute was made to the late Mike Green, acknowledging his contribution to the athletics of Morrison High School. All Morrison players wore a white wristband imprinted with “MG Mike Green” in his remembrance.
Fulton deferred the winning of the coin toss to take the ball in the second half. Morrison started the evening with Brandon Belt returning the kickoff to the Fulton 41 yard line. Each team was ineffective on the initial ball ownership, as Morrison gained one yard in three attempts, and Fulton gained six.
The second possession for the Morrison alums ended in an Alex Wherry interception of a Nate Vandermyde pass, returned to the end zone for a 6-0 lead for Fulton, with only 8:23 on the first-quarter clock. Nick Proud connected with Jeremy Weeks for the two-point conversion to advance the score to 8-0. Morrison owned the ball for 18 plays and accumulated 56 yards of total offense. Fulton only had two possessions and gained 15 yards but held the all-important advantage on the scoreboard after one quarter.
The second quarter started with the Mustangs on the Fulton 29 yard line when Vandermyde found Casey Tiesman in the end zone for six and then sprinted for the two-point conversion. We had a tie game with 10:02 left in the half. Kyle Janssen intercepted a Nick Proud pass on the second play of their possession, but the Mustangs couldn’t generate any offense. They punted back to the Steamers with 7:18 left in the first half.
Jamie Farrell took over the QB spot on the next Fulton possession and generated a 12-play drive. It consisted of eight passes that ended in a blocked field goal attempt by Ben Kuebel with only 1:13 remaining in the half. Morrison closed out the half with a quick seven play drive. That ended with Casey Tiesman catching a tipped pass on the five yard line that was ruled out of bounds, and the half ended with the score tied at eight each.
Even though this game revolved around the alumni athletes, the crowd was treated with a performance from the Morrison Pom-Pon squad for the 2014-15 school year. Their always talented exhibition was appreciated by the large crowd, as were the cheerleading squads that performed all evening. Cheerleaders from the respective schools and an alumni squad generated enthusiasm with their various routines.
The third quarter kickoff was returned by Ben Kuebel to the 48 yard line to open the second half. The Steamers could only gather one first down and punted the ball away, to allow the Mustangs possession to begin on their own 30 yard line. Dan Cook carried three consecutive plays to advance the line of scrimmage to the Fulton 41 yard line. Nick Vandermyde and Mike Nunziato moved the ball to the Steamer 35 yard line, before Vandermyde found Tiesman again in the corner of the Fulton end zone. The Mustang fans relaxed with a 14-8 advantage. The extra point attempt failed, but not because of effort! Nate Vandermyde dove over the Fulton attack at the goal line but fumbled the ball on the attempt.
Jamie Farrell returned to the QB spot. He led the Steamers to two first downs and had the ball on the 35 yard line with 24.8 seconds remaining in the second half. He was intercepted by Danny Dennehey on the 21 yard line to end the Fulton drive.
The fourth quarter saw a few hot and tired alumni, but there was no reduction in the amount of effort that they were putting forth. In fact the effort stretched in a bench-clearing altercation resulting in an ejection. But tempers cooled, and action resumed with each team owning the ball once before Fulton’s Christian Meggers intercepted a Dennehey pass and ran it into the end zone to tie the game at 14 with 7:32 on the clock. The ensuing extra point attempt was foiled by a diving pass deflection, by Morrison’s Bill Onken ,that kept the game tied at 14.
With 7:32 remaining and the ball on their own 27 yard line, the Mustangs started their possession. With the help of two 11-yard pass completions from Vandermyde to Brandon Belt, and the hard running of Dan Cook and Danny Dennehey, the ball rested on the Fulton 39 yard line with 2:40 on the game clock. Most of the Morrison running game had been inside the ends when Devin Mouw skirted the right side and out-ran all Steamer pursuers into the end zone, to make the score 20-14 with 2:33 left in the game. Belt ran the extra point attempt into the left corner of the end zone, and the Mustangs owned a 22-14 lead.
The Steamers started their final possession on the Morrison 39 yard line with Farrell under center. A pass interference call moved the ball to the Morrison 45 yard line. The Morrison defense, inspired by three aggressive plays by Bryce Vegter, ended the Fulton offense’s evening, by stopping the Steamers on fourth-and-five. They ran out the clock to end a fun evening for all who attended.
The Alumni Football USA officials gathered the teams at mid-field to congratulate them on the great effort. They noted that together they had earned over $8500, which will be paid forward to the communities.
They also noted that the game highlights will be available on YouTube (alumnifootball.com) in approximately two-weeks.
Special game awards were announced to end the evening.
- Fulton: Offense MVP–Taylor Huff; Defense MVP–Christian Meggers
- Morrison: Offense MVP–Casey Tiesman; Defense MVP–Danny Dennehey.
Photos by Stphanie A. Vavra