Morris defense stymies Morgan Park in Class 5A quarterfinal win

CHICAGO — Things couldn’t have gone better for Morris in the early going of Saturday’s Class 5A quarterfinal against top-seeded Morgan Park in a 21-7 win at Gatley Stadium.

The defense delivered four turnovers, all in the first quarter. Morris (8-4) was able to convert the first of the turnovers into a touchdown for a quick 7-0 lead. After that, it was conventional defense that limited the Mustangs and sent Morris to a semifinal matchup at Joliet Catholic Academy, a 43-8 winner over Peoria, next week.

On the game’s second play from scrimmage, Morris’ Mick Smith hit Morgan Park’s Terrance Gurley to force a fumble and teammate Logan Sparrow recovered at the Mustangs’ 24. After a run of no gain, Morris quarterback Brady Varner threw to Jack Wheeler, who outjumped the defender to grab the ball in the end zone and Connor Ahearn’s extra-point kick gave Morris a 7-0 lead with 10:42 to play in the first quarter.

“I saw Jack had one-on-one coverage,” Varner said. “When I see that, I am going to throw it to him. I know he can make the play against just about anyone one-on-one.”

Morris wasn’t done taking the ball away, though.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Morgan Park return man coughed the ball up and Morris’ Brady Babington recovered at the Mustang 35. Morgan Park’s defense was equal to the task, though, and forced Morris to give the ball up on downs.

Morgan Park was able to get a 19-yard gain on third and 10, but again the Mustang receiver fumbled while being tackled and Smith fell on it at the Morris 39. Morgan Park forced a punt and, on the second play of Morgan Park’s next drive, quarterback Marcus Thaxton launched a deep pass. Morris’ Brett Bounds broke up the pass and Smith was on the spot to grab it before it hit the ground for an interception at the Morris 37.

“On the first fumble, their running back was coming right at me,” Smith said. “I just went low and when I came up, I hit the ball and it came out. On the interception, Brett always seems to be around the ball and I was in the right place after he knocked it down.

“Our defense came out hot. All of the credit goes to the defensive linemen. They were plugging the gaps and that let the linebackers and DBs flow to the ball. It was a total team win tonight.”

Morgan Park appeared to score a game-tying touchdown on a 34-yard screen from Thaxton to Gurley, but the Mustangs were called for holding and faced fourth and 4. Thaxton’s next pass was incomplete and Morris took over on downs. Neither team was able to score again before halftime and Morris took a 7-0 lead into intermission despite being outgained 138-44.

“Our defense came to play today,” Morris coach Alan Thorson said. “[Defensive coordinator] Ryan Clauson and and defensive staff did a great job. Morgan Park has great athletes who can break a big play at any time, but our coaches had a great game plan.

“In a game like this, momentum is everything. We’re on the road against the top seed in the bracket and we’re still a pretty young team. We learned some lessons in some of our losses this year and that showed tonight.”

Morris grabbed a 14-0 lead midway through the third quarter on a 24-yard TD pass from Varner to Ethan Mumbrue on fourth and 3. It was a bit of a trick play, as Mumbrue had switched places with lineman Brogan Kjellesvik, who lined up on the right as a wide receiver and Mumbrue lined up as the tight end on the left side. All of the attention was paid to the right side of the formation and Mumbrue was left all alone.

“We knew they were playing a single-high safety and that they would roll him to the right,” Varner said. “I knew Ethan would be wide open and he was.”

Morgan Park (10-2) finally got its offense going on the next drive, taking advantage of two 15-yard penalties on the Morris defense on the same play to quickly move to the Morris 25. From there, Gurley ran six of the next seven plays, finally scoring from a yard out, to make it 14-7 with 1:27 left in the third.

The Mustangs attempted an onside kick, but Morris recovered and began to bleed the clock by running out of a full-house backfield. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Varner connected with Ximi Baftiri for an eight-yard gain on 3rd and 6 to keep the drive alive. From there, it was a heavy diet of Caeden Curran and Griffin Zweeres. Morris got it to fourth and goal from the 1 after a 5-yard gain by Zweeres, and Varner snuck in from there to provide the game’s final score.

“The offensive line did a great job all night,” Varner said. “A lot of credit goes to Brogan Kjellesvik. He moved to whatever side we wanted to run and we just got behind him. The defense deserves a lot of credit, too. They gave us the ball in great position all night.

“We learned a lot from our losses this year and that has shown in the playoffs.”