The Morton Indians football team defeated the Ralls Jackrabbits, 33-6, earning their first win of the season at home this past Friday night.
Morton now sits at 1-5-1 overall and 1-1 in district play following the dominant victory.
“It was a tough game, Ralls played us really tough,” Morton Head Football Coach Trevor Bulmer said. “I was just really proud of our kids for winning the third quarter, which is something that we’ve been emphasizing the past couple of weeks. That’s been something we’ve struggled with earlier in the season, so that was a big point of emphasis at halftime and the kids responded really well. I was proud of how we played in the third quarter and that’s what turned the tide and allowed us to take control of it.”
Safe to say they rose to challenge as they won not only the third quarter, but the second half as they scored 21 unanswered points out of halftime, and even before then the Indians were having their way with Ralls as they led 14-6 at halftime.
They put together a complete game of complimentary football, but the biggest factor in this game was the Indians defense.
The unit had come into the game surrendering 59 points per game on average and they completely turned the tide against Ralls by holding them to six points and 134 yards of total offense.
It’s all the more impressive when you realize that Ralls runs a wishbone style offense, which is a run heavy scheme with a bunch of misdirection.
They held the Jackrabbits to 2.5 yards a carry and three-of-13 on third downs in the stellar defensive showing and there’s a big reason for the success.
“It helped that earlier in the year, we opened against Seagraves, and they ran a wishbone style of offense for the most part, and then we saw Slaton and they’re sitting in the slot-t, a similar style of offense. We took bits and pieces of those game plans that we liked and put players in positions that we liked and took it to this one,” Coach Bulmer said. “That style of offense is less common in modern day football, so generally when you see it, it’s tough. Our kids played with a ton of confidence and trusted their eyes. That kind of offense forces you to say, ‘don’t look at everything, look at your key and do your job every play.’ For the most part our kids did a great job and the one time they scored, that was an example of our eyes getting bad, but it was a rarity Friday night and why we had so much success.”
On a night where everyone was locked in defensively for Morton, junior Brayden Villarreal, senior EJ Rivas and sophomore Aldo Rivera took it a step even further. Villarreal recorded 11 solo tackles, six tackle assists and two tackles for loss, Rivas recorded three solo tackles, two tackle assists and a tackle for loss and Rivera recorded two tackles for loss along with two tackles and a tackle assist.
Villarreal and Rivas were also special offensively as they were the biggest contributors in a high-scoring offensive showing.
At quarterback for Morton, Villarreal threw for 151 yards and three touchdowns, completing 10/13 passes, also rushing the ball 10 times for 54 yards.
At wide receiver, Rivas was his primary target on the night as he had eight receptions for 126 yards and two touchdowns, and he also added three rushes for 22 yards.
The star duo also reversed their offensive roles in the game as Rivas hit Villarreal on a trick play 40-yard touchdown pass.
They left their fingerprints all over this win, which Coach Bulmer was very complimentary of.
“EJ is a kid I’m so proud of. In the three years I’ve been here he’s always been a talented player. He’s stepped up even more so as a leader and is trying to do all the things we ask him to do. The proof is in the pudding as far as stats and he’s done such an excellent job. It’s tough when you feel like you’re playing well but not seeing wins on the board. In a results driven world you could easily say ‘I don’t want to do this anymore,’ but EJ has risen to the challenge and said, ‘I’m going to keep being better.’ He was awesome on defense, they tried to run at him so many times and he was like ‘nope, you’re not getting out here.’ Offensively, we throw him the ball, we feel like it’s a catch every time no matter what the coverage is or where the ball is, the kid just goes up and gets it,” Coach Bulmer said. “I think Brayden was due to have a game like that. Defensively, he was all over the place. It felt like every time we needed a tackle he made the play. Then he’s playing quarterback on offense and then we’re putting him at receiver and throwing him the ball. We put a lot on him, he rose to the occasion when we needed him to, so I’m very proud of him as well.”
Those two stars not only rose to challenge, but the entire team did in the dominant winning effort, and they’ll look to keep up the same energy moving forward.
They travel to play Crosbyton next this Friday at 7 p.m. for the opportunity to improve to 2-1 in district play and earn their second straight win.
Crosbyton is 1-6 overall and 0-2 in district this season, so Morton will look to take advantage of a struggling opponent on the road.