Editor’s note: Jerry Lindsey took the photos.
Unseasonably cool temperatures and a Senior Night greeted the Morrison Mustangs on Friday, October 12, 2018, as they entered the Edgington Campus to take on the 5-2 Rockridge Rockets.
The Rockets, who began the season ranked 3rd in the State, fell to Newman Central Catholic, and were surprised by Fulton. They needed a win to guarantee a playoff berth. The Mustangs’ season ached with two two-point losses to Fulton and Riverdale and an inspired loss to the #2 ranked Orion Chargers the previous week. They, too, took the field with hopes of a strong finish.
Rockridge took the opening drive to the end zone on nine plays covering 76-yards but fumbled the extra point, to take the early lead 6-0. The drive featured the aerial game, as quarterback Cody Bush connected with Reed Nelsen for 22-yards and Dalton Workman for 16-yards, before Niko Zarlatanes scored from the 4-yard line. The Mustangs responded on their second possession with an aerial attack of their own, when quarterback Nathan Helms found receivers on four of the next seven plays. It ended with a completion to Nathan Mickley on the 1-yard line, that was fumbled into the end zone and recovered by Jarret Wiebenga for the touchdown. The scoring drive covered 56 yards with completions by Nick Allen (11-yards), Jevin Smith (14-yards), and Ryan Kennedy (13-yards), before the 10-yarder to Mickley that put the Mustangs ahead, after a Brevin Pruis extra point kick.
The second quarter opened with Rockridge finishing the first-quarter drive of 69-yard drives with a Bush touchdown pass to Cole Rusk and a failed extra point pass attempt, and they regained the lead at 12-6 with 10:16 remaining in the first half. Nick Allen excited the crowd with a 72-yard scamper with the ensuing kickoff before he was brought down on the Rockridge 11-yard line. Two snaps later, Helms scored from the 5-yard line, and the Mustangs were up 13-12. The defenses slowed the scoring the remainder of the half. Even though the Rockets held a rushing yardage advantage of 126-yards to the Mustangs’ 15-yards, the lead was held by the Mustangs at 13-12.
Keegan Anderson opened the second half with a 70-yard kickoff return before everyone had returned to their seat after the halftime ceremonies. A missed Pruis extra point left the Mustangs motivated with a 19-12 advantage. The following Rocket drive opened with a 16-yard run up the middle by Zarlatanes and included a 26-yard completion to Reed Nelson before Bush connected with Nelson on a 2-yard pass. A Bush extra-point kick put the Rockets up 19-18, with 7:00 left in the quarter. Rockridge’s halftime adjustments stifled the Morrison aerial attack. The Mustangs finished the quarter with two three-and-out possessions and the Rockets added another score to the scoreboard with a 24-yard rumble by Zarlatanes, to end the third quarter with the rockets ahead 25-19.
The fourth quarter opened with the Rockets owning the ball and advancing from their third quarter position on their own 21-yard line. Cody Bush broke loose around right end for a 34-yard gain that positioned Zarlatanes for another touchdown scamper from the 13-yard line, and the Rockets had some breathing room with a 31-19 lead, with 9:47 remaining in the third quarter. Following a three-and-out by the Mustangs, the Rockets scored again on a 32-yard run by Bush, expanding the lead to 37-19, with only 5:52 left in the game.
The Mustangs didn’t quit. Helms found Wiebenga for a 30-yard completion and again for a 19-yard score, with 2:52 left on the clock. Morrison executed an on-side kick on the ensuing kickoff that Jarrett Wiebanga grabbed up on a friendly hop, but fumbled ten yards later when smothered by the Rocket defense. The Rockets recovered the loose ball in the pile and they ran out the clock after earning one first down to record the hard-earned win 37-25.
Statistics supported the scoreboard, as the Rockets’ ground attack rolled up 360 yards to the Mustangs’ 77 yards. The aerial stats were even, as Morrison totaled 129 yards versus Rockridge’s 127 yards.
The Mustangs will close their 2018 season on Saturday, October 20, at Manilus against the Bureau Valley Storm.
