An ideal Friday NIght Lights existed at Port Byron, IL, September 25, 2015, with the temperature in the 70’s, a nice breeze, and a Homecoming game between two longtime rivals. Riverdale is experiencing a program revival and fielded over 35 Freshmen and Sophomores against the Morrison Ponies.
The Morrison defense set the pace for the evening as they limited the Rams’ opening possession to a negative eight yards. The offense stumbled out of the gate. Aaron Deter fumbled his first handoff, and it was recovered by Riverdale’s Kale VenHuizen. Riverdale gained only two yards on the opportunity. The Ponies owned the ball again on the Morrison 43-yard line. Three snaps later Jacob Schlegel returned the favor on a fumble to end the Pony possession. The first quarter ended with little being accomplished by either team. Morrison gained weak 22 yards, and the Rams totaled a negative ten.
Tristan DeMay ignited the Ponies on the opening play of the second quarter, when he skirted the right end for a 51-yard touchdown. Nathan Bush added the two-point conversion, and the drought was broken for the Ponies at the 9:49 mark of the second quarter. Penalties hurt the Rams and forced them to punt the ball back to Morrison at their 44-yard line. Bush carried for 22 of the remaining yards, accompanied by a 13-yard run by Deter, before Deter crossed the goal on a 1-yard plunge. The score moved to 12-0. A two-point conversion was good, as Reilly Dolan hit Grant Slater in the left side of the end zone. Morrison led 14 to Riverdale’s 0.
The following series by Riverdale gained nothing. The fourth-down punt was blocked by the Ponies and recovered on the 23-yard line. A penalty moved the line of scrimmage back to the 34-yard line, when Deter broke off a 26-yard rumble, and Bush carried the final eight yards to run the score to 22-0. Again Dolan connected with Slater for the conversion, and with 1:00 left in the half, Morrison was dominating the Rams 24-0. To add to the first half humiliation, the Rams fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Deter fell on it near mid-field. The half ended four snaps later with the Ponies in total control and leading 24-0. The yardage total told the first half story: the Riverdale Rams could only gain eight total yards of offense, compared to the Ponies’ 168 yards.
The Rams opened the second half with an on-side kick that the Ponies fell on at the mid-field strip. Immediately the Ponies retained their dominance. Slater received a reverse handoff and led the charge to the end zone, with a powerful effort. The 50-yard touchdown moved the Ponies up 30-0 only 13 seconds into the third quarter. The next Ram possession ended with a punt three snaps later, after Slater threw quarterback Brent Murphy for a 4-yard loss. Morrison was on the stampede again. A 25-yard punt return by Zach Cartwright established the Pony line of scrimmage at the Riverdale 34-yard line. Bush gained eight yards up the middle. Deter added another eight, before Bush bulled for 18 more, to rest the ball on the 4-yard line. Deter quickly moved the ball into the end zone, and the stampede moved to a 38-0 total. The Rams’ highlight of the evening occurred as they collected their first of only two earned first down of the game, on a 12-yard pass from Murphy to Matt Ibarra. This possession ended on the next play, as Slater picked off a tipped pass on the Morrison 35-yard line. A Pony penalty moved the ball back ten yards, but set up the 75-yard touchdown scamper by DeMay and a two-point conversion by Bush. The continuous clock was initiated with 1:26 left in the third quarter and the Ponies leading 46-0.
The final quarter passed quickly with the mercy clock running continuously. The Rams found the end zone, with a drive that included nine snaps of the ball and five of the nine plays ending with penalty flags being thrown. The Rams finally scored with 3:37 remaining on a 15-yard pass completion from Murphy to Zach Antolik. The extra point failed, and the clock soon expired with a Pony win by a score of 46-6.
The Ponies will take the field again on Friday, October 2, at E. M. “Bud” Cole Field with a 5:30 kickoff.