By Jerry Lindsey
The first half of Friday night’s contest between the Newman Central Catholic Comets and the Morrison Mustangs was exactly what the fans are used to over the past seasons. Historically the two teams are in the upper echelon of the Northern Illinois region and each yearly encounter is one of hard-hitting and grind-it- out football with the outcome decided by a play or two.
The opening quarter saw each team conservatively trying to find what was to be the most effective attack plan. Morrison ‘s first series gathered one first down with a Joey Brackemyer pass to Ryan Mayberry pass but Newman wasn’t allowing the run to materialize and the punt resulted after seven plays. Newman took the same conservative approach and earned a first down before a quarterback fumble for a seven-yard loss deadened the drive and forced a punt.
Morrison’s second series started with a Brackemyer twelve-yard scamper from the wildcat and a 14-yard pass to Mayberry but again the possession ended with a punt. Newman ended the quarter with a twenty-yard pass completion from AJ Sharp to Allen Shayne that moved the ball to mid-field.
Again, a Newman fumble slowed their possession and forced a punt to start the second quarter. Morrison couldn’t rush the ball and Brackemyer overthrew a wide open Mayberry on their first possession. Newman went three and out and punted to give Morrison a first down on their own twenty-yard line. The second snap saw Brackemyer connect with Mayberry for an eighteen-yard completion. Brackemyer called his own number four consecutive plays and converted a fourth and inches to give the Mustangs a first down on the45-yard line. Austin Shoup found a hole over the right guard for a twelve-yard gain and again for a fourteen-yarder and the Mustangs were first and ten on the
Comet 43-yard line. The drive was successful but the Mustangs lost the services of Joey Brackemyer with a knee injury and Mason Sitzmore had to step in under center in Brackemyer’s absence. The drive ended three plays later as Sitzmore was intercepted on the Comet 16-yard line with 1:32 left in the first half. Newman took possession without any timeouts left and immediately went to the air. Sharp connected with Jake Snow for an eleven-yard gain then threw three incomplete passes as the clock ran down, but the Mustangs extended the Comets drive with a penalty that gave them a first down with 51 seconds remaining. Sharp found Allen Shayne for a 25-yard pass completion that took them down to the nineteen-yard line with 24 seconds remaining. Two snaps later, Kolin Burn intercepted a Sharp pass on the three-yard line with only 10.3 seconds on the clock and Morrison took a knee to enter the half tied at 0-0.
During the tight first half, Morrison gained 47-yards on the ground and 41-yards via the pass while Newman gained eighteen yards on the ground and 56-yards in the air. The stats were very close, but the Mustangs had to remember that twice AJ Sharp over threw wide-open receivers and another pass was dropped that would easily have ended with a score.
The teams that lined up for the second half looked the same, but the action that followed showed no resemblance to the defensive laden action of the first half. Newman received the kickoff and started their possession on their won 33-yard line. Eliminating the pass from their offensive play selections, it took the Comets only six plays before Jake Snow rumbled five-yards into the end zone to open the scoring. Snow highlighted the drive with a thirty-seven yard run up the sideline that saw several Mustangs make contact, but failed to bring him down until he reached the nine-yard line. Following the touchdown, Morrison went three and out and gave the ball back to Newman on their own 31 yard line. Snow immediately found a hole over his left tackle and rambled to the Morrison five-yard line before the Mustangs could wrestle him down. The next play Dillan Hellelfinger covered the last five yards into the end zone and with 6:49 left in the third quarter the score grew to 12-0.
Two plays after the Newman kickoff Mac Olsen recovered a Sitzmore fumble and the Comets were in possession again on the Morrison 23 yard line. On the second snap of the new series, Heffelinger galloped nineteen yards to record the third touchdown in less than four minutes. Snow ran the extra point to move the score to 20-0 with 5:17 left in the third period. Another three and out by the Mustangs allowed the Comets a new possession on the Morrison 42-yard line. Following an eleven-yard run by Heffelfinger, Snow hugged the sideline for a thirty-one yard touchdown. A block-in-the-back penalty nullified the score and put the ball on the fourteen-yard line. The next snap Snow easily covered the fourteen yards through a demoralized defense and ran the score to 28-0 and 3:10 still remained in the quarter. The quarter ended with Morrison giving the ball back on a Jake Snow interception of Mason Sitzmore on the Morrison twenty-two yard line.
The fourth quarter started with Elliot Jensen carrying over left tackle for a thirteen-yard touchdown. The fourth quarter saw Morrison gain three total yards on two separate possessions and Newman found the end zone for the last time with 3:49 left in the game and ran the embarrassing final score to 42-0.
Even though the Comets were held to 18-yards rushing in the first half, they ended the evening with a total of 310 yards on the ground compared to Morrison 42 yards Morrison recorded a total of six yards gained in the second half.
For the second time this season, the Mustangs have to reach down and pull themselves out of a defeat in an attempt to be competitive against the Amboy Clippers next Friday night.