Written and photos by Assistant Editor Jerry Lindsey.
The Friday Night Lights were shining in Morrison, IL, as the Homecoming crowd gathered at E. M. “Bud” Cole field, to watch the Morrison Mustangs host the Sherrard Tigers. On Friday, September 29, 2023, fireworks added to the decisive victory.
The opening drive of the Tigers was ended with an interception by Camden Pruis on the 1-yard line, which he returned to the 30-yard line to start the first Mustang possession. Ten plays later Quarterback Colton Bielema connected with Chase Newman for a 31-yard touchdown, and the Mustangs led 6-0. Josh McDearmon completed the drive with an extra point conversion to up the score to 7-0, with 6:04 remaining in the first quarter. The Mustang defense stopped the Tigers’ next possession and forced a punt, but a roughing-of-the-kicker penalty gave the ball back to Sherrard at mid-field. Quarterback Holland Anderson went to the air and completed passes on five-of-the-next-seven play attempts, to set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Garrett Woodard. A successful extra point evened the score at 7. The Mustangs needed only four snaps to find the end zone again, as Bielma and Daeshaun McQueen connected on a 59-yard scoring play. McDearmon’s extra point gave the Mustang a 14-7 first-quarter lead.
The second period started with the Tigers owning the ball at their 45-yard line. Using a mix of pass and run, the Tigers–successful on four of their seven pass attempts–found the end zone again on a 1-yard run. They tied the game with a successful extra point kick. Again, the Mustangs struck back; they drove 55 yards on eight plays, featured by a 15-yard scamper by Chase Newman. He crossed the chalk again, to up the advantage to 20-14. McDearmon added an extra point, and the Mustangs entered the halftime break with a 21-14 advantage over the scrappy Tigers.
Halftime adjustments were ever-telling. The Mustang defense held the Tiger offense to -3 yards rushing in the third quarter and only seven yards in the air while, the Home team offense was scoring 21 points, to put the Homecoming fans at ease. Chase Newman scored on a 50-yard run, to end the first possession of the second half. Brady Anderson scampered the sideline for a 73-yard score to end the second possession. He again scored on a 44-yard run on the Mustangs’ third possession, to build a 42-14 score at the end of the third quarter.
The Morrison offense racked up over 450 total yards, led by Brady Anderson’s 173 yards rushing followed by Chase Newman’s 90 yards. Quarterback Colton Bielma completed passes on four-of-seven attempts for a total of 162 yards.
The Mustangs (6-0) will take the field again on Friday, October 6, 2023, as they host the #9 ranked 2A team from Rockridge (5-1) with a scheduled 7:00 p.m. kickoff.
