2005 Year in Review

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Ponies Struggle to Beat Crusaders

The Morrison Ponies struggled early during their season opener on Friday night. After a lackluster first quarter, the Ponies finally found their stride in the second and third quarter and went on to beat the Ottawa Marquette Crusaders by a score of 21-0. The Ponies held the Crusaders to only 87 yards of total offense while overcoming over 95 yards worth of penalties.

The Pony defense started the game with an impressive stand highlighted by a hard sideline tackle by Nate Vandermyde that stopped the Crusaders short of a first down. The Ponies were unable to respond and fumbled away their first offensive snap of the season. Once again, the defense was able to stop Marquette short of a first down and forced another punt. The Ponies were able to pick up three first downs on a 19-yard run by Taylor Hayes, a 17-yard pass from Derek Ward to Dustin Jones, and a nine-yard run by Derek Hamstra. However, the drive stalled and the Ponies were forced to punt. The quarter came to a close with neither team posting a threat to score.
The Ponies kicked it into gear in the second quarter. The defense buckled down and held the Crusaders to negative twelve yards in the quarter while controlling the ball. Halfway through the quarter, the Ponies started to push the ball deep into Marquette territory. Ethan Goodenough started the drive with a five-yard run up the middle. Vandermyde ran for five more yards before Proud put the ball inside the Marquette ten-yard line with a 13-yard run around end. Hamstra carried for two yards before Vandermyde kept it himself and powered his way into the end zone to give the Ponies the lead. Jones' extra-point attempt was blocked and the score was 6-0.
Morrison forced a quick three-and-out and once again were quickly driving the field, this time the Ponies aired it out to gain quick yardage. Ward was the catalyst for the drive with his passing and decision making. Ward kept it twice and was able to stop the clock and gain nineteen yards. Ward connected with Proud on his first two passes for twenty-four yards. Following an imcompletion, Ward found Hayes for a gain of 30 yards down to the Crusader 15-yard line. On the next play, Ward spotted Proud in the end zone and hit him with a 15-yard touchdown strike to make it 12-0. Vandermyde converted the two-point conversion on a quarterback keeper to make it 14-0 wtih just ten seconds left in the half.
The local gridders kept it on the ground in the third quarter and were able to grind out yardage and run down the clock at the same time. After forcing a punt, the offense began an eight-play, 56-yard drive that saw Hamstra carry five times for 19 yards and was capped by a 23-yard touchdown by Seth Ashpole. Ashpole converted the extra-point and the score stood at 21-0.
The teams stalemated each other for the rest of the game with there being only one scoring threat. The Crusaders used their passing game to move the ball down to the Pony 11-yard line before the Ponies held tight and forced a turnover on downs. Hayes sprung loose for 14 yards, and Mitch Nienhuis ran for 12 more to held the Ponies get out of the shadow of their own end zone before the buzzer sounded to end the game with the Ponies on top 21-0.
Derek Ward was 5-6 passing for 89 yards and one touchdown. Nate Vandermyde was 1-1 for two yards. Dustin Jones caught one pass for 17 yards, Taylor Hayes racked up 35 yards on two receptions, and Matt Proud gained 39 yards on three catches and a touchdown.
Derek Hamstra gained 40 yards on 12 carries, Taylor Hayes ran the ball twice for 33 yards, Seth Ashpole ran once for 23 yards and a touchdown, Derek Ward had 17 yards on four carries, Ethan Goodenough gained 13 yards on two carries, Mitch Neinhaus ran for 12 yards on one carry, Nate Vandermyde tallied nine yards on five carries and a touchdown, and Zach Stralow totalled negative one yard on one carry.
The Ponies will next be in action on Friday night, September 2, when they host the Riverdale Rams in the Hall of Fame Game at 5:30 p.m.

by rustinl
2005-08-28 15:45:51