2005 Year in Review

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Ponies Take Care of Steamers

The Morrison Ponies got back to their winning ways on Friday night, as they defeated the Fulton Steamers 12-0. The Ponies forced six fumbles but recovered only three to help disrupt the Fulton offense. The Ponies went to the air for their two touchdowns as both quarterbacks threw touchdown passes for the Ponies. The game was a defensive battle throughout with there being only 14 first downs between the two squads.

The first quarter passed fairly uneventfully, with both teams trading the ball back and forth on fumbles and punts. It wasn’t until the end of the first quarter, that the Ponies finally started to move the ball. Derek Hamstra started a string of four straight carries with a twelve yard run. Another two carries netted nine yards and on the first down came on a four-yard run to start the second quarter. Derek Ward broke the streak by finding Dustin Jones for a gain of 14 yards and first down. Tyler Hayes broke off a 27-yard run down the right sideline before Hamstra carried for another five yards. Ward lost a yard on a carry before he found Hayes for a seven-yard touchdown pass. Seth Ashpole’s extra point kick was no good and the Ponies led 6-0.
Using a decent mix of pass and run, the Steamers started to move the ball on the Ponies before they finally forced a punt. The offense quickly went to work with Hamstra and Hayes starting the drive with consecutive eight-yard runs. Nate Vandermyde then found Matt Proud for a gain of 13 yards and first down to move the ball deep into Steamer territory. Proud and Hamstra combined for six yards before Hamstra ran for five yards and a first down. Vandermyde scrambled for two yards before an incomplete pass slowed the drive. Vandermyde made up for it on the next play when he found Matt Proud for a 17-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion was no good and the Ponies led 12-0 with forty seconds remaining in the half. The score would hold until halftime with the Steamers unsuccessfully trying to pass their way downfield.
Morrison really took control of the game defensively in the third quarter by forcing and recovering two fumbles. Taylor Boyles and Seth Ashpole recovered the loose balls to stop the Steamers dead in their tracks. Offensively, the Ponies kept the ball on the ground by riding Hamstra for 20 yards on four carries during the quarter. Otherwise, the third quarter passed quietly before the buzzer sounded for the final ten minutes of play.
Fulton tried a different approach and went to the ground in the fourth quarter but found little luck minus a twenty-yard run late in the quarter. Meanwhile, the secondary buckled down and held the Steamers to only one completed pass in the quarter to stall the offense. On the other side of the ball Morrison kept the ball on the ground and ran the clock to ice the 12-0 victory.
Derek Hamstra led the ground game with 82 yards on 15 carries. Tyler Hayes ran five times for 37 yards, Matt Proud ran four times for ten yards, Ethan Goodenough ran for 13 yards on five carries, Derek Ward ran once for a loss of a yard, and Nate Vandermyde gained negative fourteen yards on four carries. Nate Vandermyde was 3-5 passing for 37 yards and a touchdown and Derek Ward was 2-4 passing for 21 yards and a touchdown. Matt Proud caught three passes for 37 yards and a touchdown, Dustin Jones caught one pass for 14 yards, and Tyler Hayes caught one pass for seven yards.
Clint Shepard led the defense with 11 tackles followed by Derek Hamstra with eight tackles, Derek Ward, Ethan Goodenough, and Seth Ashpole with five tackles, Matt Proud with four tackles, Taylor Boyles with three tackles, Nate Vandermyde with two tackles, and Jason Smith, Tyler Hayes, Zane Woods, and Dustin Jones with one tackle each. Taylor Boyles recovered two fumbles and Seth Ashpole fell on one fumble.
The Ponies will return home next Friday, October 14, for the Homecoming game against the Peru St. Bede Bruins with that game starting at 5:30 p.m.

by rustinl
2005-10-10 09:36:24