Morrison High School students spent the week with activities to generate more spirit and enthusiasm for the Homecoming game, Friday, October 9, 2015, against the undefeated and third-ranked team in the State in Class 2A, the Orion, IL, Chargers. It worked! The Morrison Mustangs and Ponies pulled the reins in on the Orion Chargers, both squads gaining wins to finish off the fun Homecoming week. The Ponies faced a 5-1 Charger Fresh-Soph team and sent them home with a commanding defeat, 34-14. The Mustangs did one even better, by defeating the #3 ranked Chargers in overtime, 20-17.
If the opening series by Orion was an example of how the evening was going to transpire, then it was going to be a long night. The Chargers took the opening kickoff on their 24-yard line and needed only three minutes to penetrate the Mustang end zone. Josh Ellison ran in from ten yards out and established a 7-0 advantage, with only 3:06 gone in the first quarter. The Mustangs came right back on their first possession, but needed eight minutes to find the Orion end zone. Cody Southern scored from five yards out with only 58.5 seconds remaining in the quarter. The scoring drive featured a 35-yard pass completion from Dylan Keller to Payton Cook on a third-and-nine call. The big play that kept the drive alive was a fake punt and a 13-yard run by Andy Bird for a Mustang first down.
Defenses dominated the second quarter; each team ended drives with a punt early in the quarter. Orion’s next series ended when Southern recovered a Charger fumble on the 11-yard line and returned it to the 19. The offense was forced to punt three plays later. Starting on the Morrison 34-yard line, the Chargers went to the air and moved the ball to the 6-yard line. Ellison finished the drive with a touchdown run, and the half ended with the Chargers leading 14-6. The Mustangs went to the locker room knowing they had played these ranked Chargers pretty evenly.
The opening drive of the second half for Morrison ended on the third snap, as Nate Lawson intercepted a Keller pass on the Orion 18-yard line. The fired-up Mustang defense only allowed the Chargers three yards, before receiving the ball back on a punt on their own 28-yard line. Keller connected with Ryan VanZuiden for 18 yards and again with Tate Renkes for 12 yards. These aerials were intertwined with three runs by Bird, totaling 22 yards, and ending with a Keller-to-Justin Jensen 3-yard scoring pass. Now the Mustangs were within two at 14-12. Keller scored the extra points with a roll out quarterback keeper. With 2:25 left in the third quarter, the game was tied at 14. Utilizing the strong running of Ellison, Orion moved from their own 26-yard line to the Mustang 22, as the quarter ran out.
Ellison touched the ball on the next four snaps and advanced the line of scrimmage to a first down at the 5-yard line. Quarterback Nate Lawson rolled to his left and attempted a pass to Koby Stopes in the corner of the end zone. Keller fronted Stopes for the interception, and Morrison owned the ball with a first-and-ten at the 20-yard line, with 9:00 minutes remaining. Unable to move the ball, Jensen punted it back to Orion with 6:51 remaining in the game. From their own 23-yard line, the Chargers used the clock and advanced toward the Morrison goal line with a 15-play drive. With a second down on the 15-yard line, the Chargers were called for a holding penalty with 1:26 left on the clock. The line of scrimmage was moved back to the 24-yard line. Orion was unsuccessful on a pass attempt and sent in their field goal kicker to attempt a 42-yard field goal, with 47.4 seconds remaining. The kick was short, and Morrison retained ownership at their own 20-yard line. Renkes immediately skirted right end before running out of bounds 22 yards later. Bird attempted to break a run before a Morrison time out, with 31.1 seconds and the ball on the 47-yard line. Coach Cory Bielema called for a pass to Jensen down the right sideline, but Orion’s Josh Ellison intercepted it on the 19-yard line and returned it to the 28. Orion decided to “knee” the ball down and force the game into an overtime.
Few may remember the fact that these same teams played a three-overtime game last year, and the Chargers triumphed.
In the overtime, each team gets the ball at the ten-yard line and has four downs to score. Orion was awarded the possession first and chose to only have Ellison touch the ball as he rushed three consecutive times. He was stopped on the critical third-and-goal on the 3-yard line, by an ankle tackle by Deter, for a two-yard loss. In came the field goal kicker, and Orion took a 17-14 lead. Morrison handed their first-down snap to Renkes; he advanced to the 7-yard line. Bird dove the middle and gained four more yards to the 3-yard line. Then Renkes ran right, cut over the right tackle, and dove in for the winning touchdown! The Mustangs had pulled off a Homecoming upset of Orion, 20-17.
The Chargers’ offense was led by Josh Ellison’s 133 yards rushing. Morrison’s ground game contributors featured Andy Bird with 64 yards and Tate Renkes with 48 yards.
Homecoming was a great time to see the Mustangs put it all together for a win! Even though their record read 1-5 coming into the Friday night game against Orion, one must remember this.
- They lost a game to Kewanee on the last play on the game.
- They played then-#1 ranked Newman Comets closely for three+ quarters.
- They were leading against then-#5 ranked Rockridge in the third quarter, when weather delayed the game for over two hours and allowed the momentum to swing back in the Rockets’ favor.
- Last week, they were only five points down to the Fulton Steamers with about eight minutes remaining, when a fumble returned for a touchdown took the spark out of the tired Mustangs.
The Mustangs take their well-deserved win into next week’s game in Amboy, IL. They will attempt to add another win before ending the season at home against Bureau Valley.