On a beautiful, but chilly September evening the Morrison Ponies traveled to Erie and came away with a strong defensive showing and a victory 30-6 over the Erie-Prophetstown Panthers.
The opening quarter was all about the Ponies’ offense as they ground up 152 yards in three possessions. On the first possession they needed only three plays to cover the 55-yards to end zone with Joey Brackemyer running the final 34 to open the scoring. Andy Bird carried the ball for the conversion and Morrison was up 8-0. The second possession saw six different Ponies carry the ball as they marched 47 yards for their second score. Mason Sitzmore gained 16 yards on an off tackle run and Brackemyer added twelve during the scoring drive that put Morrison up 16-0. The third possession carried into the second quarter and ended in a three yard touchdown by Austin Shoup. The drive was highlighted by Andy Bird following blocks well and gaining 18 yards before being brought down on the 14-yard line.
The young Panthers owned the ball three times in the first quarter also. The first drive ended when Morrison’s Sitzmore recovered a fumble on the fourth play of their possession. The second series ended in a punt and the third lasted only one play as the Panther’s Dylan Binion found a lot of room around the right end and outran the Pony defense to complete a 70-yard touchdown run and put their lone score on the board.
The Panthers tried to find a positive combination of play selections, but the Ponies defense was up to the challenge. The aerial game accounted for 2 completions on six attempts, but that didn’t make up for the negative ten yards that the Ponies allowed for the period. Austin Shoup and Noah Blacklock combined to drop E-P’s Seam Maloney for a twenty yard loss to add to their misery. The half ended with Morrison in control 24-6
Morrison opened the second half with a fourteen play scoring drive that ended when Shoup ran over the right guard for a five yard conclusion to a 62-yard drive. Brackemyer contributed to the drive with two runs of 11 and 19 yards and Sitzmore added one run of 17. The Panthers were only able to gain 16 yards on five plays and ended their possession when Blacklock recovered a fumble on the Morrison 40 yard line to end the quarter.
The fourth quarter saw each team own the ball for two possessions, but neither approached the end zone as the evening ended with Morrison gaining a dominate victory. The dominance was highlighted by the fact that following the seventy yard touchdown, the Panther offense only gained 21 yards on the ground and 25 in the air. Final: Morrison Ponies 30 Erie-Prophetstown Panthers 6