The Morton Indians captured their first win of the season, taking down the Smyer Bobcats. 48-20.
“It was great to see one on the board,” Morton’s Head Coach Trevor Bulmer said. “It’s tough when you’re working hard every week, and you don’t see kind of the results you want to see, so it’s nice to see it when you have that opportunity.” Morton found momentum early in the game with junior wide receiver Lionel Hernandez’s 60-yard touchdown run to put the Indians ahead 6-0. The Indians did not look back as they scored 28 points in the first quarter with junior defensive lineman Aldo Rivera scoopand- score, bringing the lead to 28-6. Finding success on the ground is what catapulted Morton’s offense. Rushing for 299 yards between eight rushers with six of them scoring a touchdown each. The running attack was led by senior running back Hezekiah Silvas with 108 yards on five carries.
“When you have that many guys scoring touchdowns, it’s a testament to one, the offensive line, because it doesn’t matter who we were giving the ball to; they were being productive,” Bulmer said. “Then our offensive coordinator, Coach Thomas, has done an unbelievable job all year.”
Morton’s defense was able to shut out Smyer’s offense on third down, with the Bobcats going 0 for 4 in third-down conversions.
The Indians’ defense also found success with forcing turnovers, totaling six in the game, including four fumble recoveries and two interceptions. Forcing the Bobcats into mistakes was critical for the Indians’ success as they won the turnover margin six to zero.
“Both of the big, big takeaways we created defensively were huge and that they created points for us and they took away points for them,” Bulmer said. “Our quarterback did a good job keeping it out of harm’s way.”
The win for Morton gives them a chance to make the top four in District 2-2A and make the playoffs as they sit in fifth place with a 1-2 record, tied with their next opponent, the Plains Cowboys.
“We started preach-