Morris treats fans with win
By MIKE CUNNIFF
|
| Morris defender Danny Niewinski is congratulated by teammates for recovering a turnover on a punt and setting up the Redskins for their final touchdown against Raby in Chicago Saturday. (Herald photo by Adam Nekola) |
CHICAGO - On the afternoon of the scariest night of the year, the Morris Redskins showed they weren't afraid of the Raiders.
But the treats enjoyed by Morris in a 19-6 victory over the Raby Raiders in the opening round of the IHSA 4A football playoffs at Hanson Stadium were anything but easy to bag.
"We played a good game agains a good team," said a smiling Redskins coach George Dergo afterward. "That team was seeded No. 4 [in the quadrant] and they [the Raiders] were 8-1 for a reason.
But not for the same reason that Raby showed on the turf at Hanson.
"We made a lot of mistakes," admitted Raiders coach D'Angelo Dereef. "The kids are used to playing big games but we just made too many mistakes. We had a lot of bad snaps."
Raby had a half dozen bad snaps on the day, costing the Raiders the ball four times.
One errant snap set up the second Morris touchdown, allowing the Redskins to grab a 13-0 advantage at intermission.
Morris scored in each of the first two quarters. The Redskins, after forcing a 3-and-out in the opening possession by Raby, drove 41 yards in seven plays to take a 7-0 edge with 7:35 left in the opening frame.
Facing a fourth-and-10 at the 20, Morris senior quarterback Martin Maldanado found junior tight end Kjeld Torkelson over his left shoulder for the distance. It was Torkelson's second touchdown catch of the season. Torkelson made it 7-0 with his PAT kick.
Each squad had three possessions in the stanza with defenses dominating the action. The was a trade of turnovers with junior linebacker Andrew Bordner of the Redskins falling on a fumble after Raiders junior quarterback Daniel Cleveland was sacked. Maldanado was picked off by Raiders senior corner Eric Vortes at the Raby 8 to douse a possible Morris scoring chance.
The Redskins nearly doubled their advantage midway though thesecond period after taking over at the Raider 12 when Cleveland went to punt, only to have a bad snap force him into touching a knee to the turf and turn the ball over.
Junior halfback Cory Scapellato advanced the ball to the 1-yard line before he fumbled. Morris junior cebter Derek Cheshareck retained possession by dropping on the loose ball.
"Cory had the ball, just running it up the middle and all of a sudden, the ball popped out," said Cheshareck. "I didn't have any idea of what the ball was at, so I just jumped on it. Then I realized it was only a couple of inches away from the goalline. I could have had a touchdown if I scooped it up and took a step."
Cheshareck's misfortune was Scapallato's treat, with Cory smashing over for the final yard on the next snap. The PAT kick was wide left, with 6:36 remaining.
Raby, which went 8-1 in the regular season, got on the board with the lone points of the third stanza when Cleveland found Vortes for a 51-yard scoring strike with 2:45 to go.
Vortes caught the ball at the 23 down the right side before motoring into the end zone. The extra point pass was knocked down by Jon Serna after the Raiders were penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Morris bagged the victory after some hustle by senior special teamer Danny Niewinski in the final period. The Redskins punted, following a sack of Maldanado, with Jordan Bruyn booting the ball that took a sideways bounce and skimmed the jersey of the return man. Niewinski was there to grab the free ball.
"He was Johnny-on-the-spot," said Redskins special teams coach Tom Peterson, of Niewinski.
Taking over on the Raiders 36, it took Morris seven plays to add the clinching score. Senior halfback Jared Kopczik got the final two yards with 3:37 showing.
The Redskins will meet the Elgin St. Edward-Mendota winner next week. Morris will host if Mendota advances.
Comments
