The Morrison Mustangs are a work-in-progress group that is realizing itself a week at a time. Entering the third week of the season with two wins, an anticipated challenge from the Kewanee Boilermakers (1-1) didn’t quite develop. The Mustang left town with a 41-28 win.
A weather-perfect Friday night, September 8, 2017, started off with the Boilers having the ball on their 41-yard line. Speedster Deshawn Mabalcon fast-footed his way off right tackle, for a 55-yard gain, before Grant Slater pushed him out of bounds on the 2-yard line. Two plays later the score was 7-0 in favor of the Boilers. Morrison’s eight-play drive that followed ended in a punt, that was downed on the Kewanee 22-yard line. The first snap was fumbled and recovered by Grant Abel on the 21-yard line. Three plays later Aaron Deter scored the first of his four touchdowns from the 3-yard line. Brevin Pruis tied the score with the extra point at 7. The ensuing kickoff was fumbled and recovered by Deter on the Boiler’s 26-yard line; the momentum began to swing toward the Mustangs. Reilly Dolan connected with Deter on the first snap, for a 15-yard pass completion, and placed the ball on the 11-yard line. Three plays later, Deter bulled over left guard to up the score to 13-7. Pruis’s point after made it 14-7 with 4:32 remaining in the first quarter. Kewanee’s next possession netted a -1 yard, as the Mustangs asserted their growing confidence. The quarter ended six plays later, with Dolan connecting with Jacob Schlegel for a 43-yard completion, that put the ball on the Boiler 12-yard line. Deter scored from the 5-yard line as the second period opened and a bad snap hindered Pruis’ point after and the Mustangs had recovered to lead 20 -7 with 11:18 left in the first half. Kewanee rebounded with an eight-play drive that ended when a fourth-and-5 on the Mustang 18-yard line failed, and they turned the ball over on downs. Two snaps into the possession, Slater skirted right end and ran the right chalk line for a 75-yard gain to the 4-yard line. He and scored on the following snap to change the score to 27-7. Kewanee owned the ball for two more possession in the half, but the Morrison defense allowed only one first down and entered the halftime break with 27-7 lead.
The third quarter action failed to change the score. Morrison defense limited the Boilers to 13 yards on the ground with two possessions. The final possession of the quarter for the Mustangs featured a 31-yard pass from Dolan to Slater that moved the ball to the Kewanee 20-yard line. They turned the ball over on downs after failing on a fourth-and-seven at the 17-yard line. The quarter ended with Kewanee owning the ball at their 22-yard line.
The final quarter opened with Kewanee’s Deshawn Mabalcon skirting right end and cutting back across the Morrison defense. He eluded several attempted tackles and raced 78-yards for a touchdown. That cut the Mustang lead to 27-14 with 11:40 remaining in the game. The first play of the next Morrison series left the Friday night fans talking. Deter ran off tackle, breaking tackles and punishing would-be tacklers, as he left empty arms in the wake of a bruising 71-yard run, which ended on the Boiler’s 4-yard line. Deter finished the drive two snaps later, to record his fourth touchdown of the evening from the 4-yard line. Pruis made it 34-14. Following a three-and-out by the Boilers, Morrison generated a 36-yard scoring drive, with Reily Wilkens gaining 25 yards and scoring the final touchdown from the 4-yard line. Pruis’s point after upped the tally to 41-14 with 7:40 remaining. Two late Morrison fumbles resulted in scores for the Boilers. A recovery on the Morrison 19 resulted in a 4-yard score. Another recovery on the 38-yard line ended in the end zone, with a 32-yard pass completion from Jeremy Burhorn to Lewis Robinson with 28 seconds on the game clock, to form the final score 41-28.
The Mustangs left the Kewanee field with growing confidence on both sides of the ball. They face the #1 ranked, Sterling, IL, Newman Comets at home Friday night, September 16, are and anxious for the challenge.
Game Summary Stats:
Kewanee: Rushing – 34 plays for 217 yards ( Mabalcon – 7/147 yds)
Passing – 5 of 17 for 83 yards
Morrison: Rushing – 51 plays for 352 yards (Deter 17/137, Slater 7/108, DeMay 10/35, Wilkens 6/38, Schlegel 4/12, Dolan 2/9, Pruis 2/5, Zigler 2/ -1, Anderson 1/10)
Passing: Dolan 5/9 = 90 yards.
