Published: December 06, 2008 11:56 pm         

Guess who’s back

Morrison to play for fourth straight gold ball

YUKON — Morrison spotted Hennessey a first-quarter touchdown, and then the No. 7 Wildcats’ iron-clad defense slammed the door to provide the impetus for a 26-6 victory in the Class A state semifinals.

Hennessey’s heralded running back Augie McCulley — who had rushed for 2,455 yards in 13 games — did gain 115 yards against the stubborn Morrison defense but MHS running back Cale James stole the individual spotlight by rushing for 206 yards on just 11 carries while scoring two important second-half touchdowns.

Morrison (13-1) will face top-ranked Okeene (14-0) — a 9-7 winner against Tonkawa in the other Class A semifinal — for the state championship at a site and date to be determined Sunday.

The hard-earned win improved MHS coach Cory Bales’ personal record to 53-3 over the past four seasons.

“I think we’ve made the transition to 11-man football,” Bales wryly snapped. “I can’t say enough about our defensive line and linebackers, they were just great.

“Defensively, we played great, probably better in the second half than we did at the beginning.”

Led by James, quarterback Shawn Walls and bullish fullback Joey Quinata, the Wildcats crushed Hennessey with 341 yards total offense, 258 of those lengths coming on the ground.

Hennessey took the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards in nine plays with McCulley plugging it in from the one-yard stripe. The extra point was foiled when Quinata blocked the conversion attempt.

The lead held up until midway in the second quarter when the Eagles bobbled a double-reverse try and Clint Sloan recovered at the Hennessey 20. Three plays later, Walls punched it in from the one and Quinata’s successful placement gave MHS the lead, 7-6 — an advantage it wasn’t to surrender.

In the third quarter, Morrison flexed its considerable defensive muscles when Quinata blocked an Eagle punt and Brian Bilyeu was the first of three Wildcats to get to the ball in the end zone for a touchdown to make it 14-6.

The stubborn Eagles marched down to the Morrison 38 before Levi Masters and Dylon Quinata sacked Eagle quarterback Caleb Weaver for an 11-yard loss on fourth down.

This opened the door for James to race 49 yards for the victor’s third touchdown and even though the conversion attempt failed, it was obvious the Eagles’ spirit was deflated.

The Wildcats were about to put the Eagles out of the game but James fumbled on the Morrison 30, giving Hennessey a shot to recover. But the MHS defense smothered McCulley’s fourth-and-one shot for no gain and this set the stage once again for James.

Facing a third-and-two at the Morrison 28, James took a Walls handoff, skirted through the left side of the Hennessey line and bolted 72 yards to score and put the decision safely away.

Again, the Wildcat defense forced two straight three-and-outs, and for the 17th time in the last quarter of a century, Morrison moved into a state-championship scenario.

     

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