The Morton Indians improve to 2-0, after defeating the Crosbyton Chiefs on the road, 4314.
The game started with Morton scoring on a touchdown pass and putting them in the lead 6-0, after a missed two-point conversion. From there the Indians defense got a stop on the Chiefs and got the ball back.
However, the offense made a costly mistake in fumbling the ball, which the Crosbyton team took full advantage by scooping the ball and running for a Chiefs touchdown making the score, 8-6, after their successful two-point conversion.
Morton had their defense on top of their game with great coaching and great play from their athletes making sure the Chiefs earned every yard.
The second quarter was a very balanced one as for both teams it was a very defensive battle. One mistake is all it took for Crosbyton as they fumbled the ball with 8:31 left in the second quarter as Morton capitalized scoring their second touchdown of the night thanks to the quarterback Dante Chavez.
Morton took the lead making the score, 12-8, after failing another two-point conversion.
Getting the ball back, Crosbyton scored on the first play of their drive after a mental error from Morton’s secondary and making the score, 14-12, after the Chiefs weren’t able to score on the two-point conversion.
The second half was all Morton as they took the game and ran with it. The offense came out of the half with a slow methodical drive that resulted in a touchdown due to the perfect play calling and excellent performance from their key players. The offense then called a wide receiver screen to finally get their first successful two-point conversion of the game making the game, 20-14, with 6:08 left in the third quarter.
Moments after their first touchdown of the half, the defense turned up the intensity as they got their second interception of the game giving their offense the ball. The Indian offense scored again due to their quarterbacks running ability as he scrambled out of the pocket to get in the endzone. The score moved to 28-14, as they got their second two-point conversion of the game with 4:22 left in the third quarter.
The Morton offense was able to pour it on in the third quarter as they scored again thanks to some trickery in the backfield. The Morton Indians made the score 36-14, with another good two-point conversion and 1:57 left to go in the third quarter.
With the game out of reach Morton ran the ball to get rid of as much time as possible, and accomplished that through running back Christian Enriquez.
Enriquez busted out into the open field to score yet again for Morton putting the game to bed as they made the PAT with a final score of 43-14.
Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Keith Mauldin was very proud of his team and was happy they were able to stay positive through the obstacles the team had to go through to pull the win out.
“I’m so proud of these guys, after halftime these guys came out as a unit and this was the first time we had to deal with adversity,” said Coach Mauldin. “I cant tell you how proud I am of these guys and how they played for not just themselves but for each other as a team. It speaks volumes on how much of a difference they have made.”
Coach Mauldin felt that the team had its ups and downs throughout the game but the players never gave up on each other and they bounced back in the second half dominating the game and pretty much putting the game away in the second half of the contest.
“It wasn’t scheme, it was just remember who were playing for and once they decided to stop thinking about what seemed like all the chaos that was going on and started to think about each other,” explained Coach Mauldin. “We didn’t add any plays or make a scheme adjustment we just played and let them remember why their here and why they do this.
When asked about how their defensive performance was Coach Mauldin gave all the credit to his coaching staff and how prepared they were coming into this game and just how organized they were overall to be that fundamentally sound in their play and not give up any big plays.
The Morton Indians will play again Friday against the Munday Moguls who are going into the game winless. It will be a home game at 7 p.m.