Wherever it was, Tigers beat WCA 29-7

The first game is in the books for the 2016 MACA football Tigers. I wasn't there and I can't even be sure where it was played. Our school calendar said the game was at West Central Area (Barrett), but the Saturday West Central Tribune of Willmar said the game was played "at Big Cat Stadium in Morris."

I was hoping this review post would be routine to write, but seldom do I have that luxury. I risk looking like a fool every time I rely on the Willmar paper for information.

Click on the permalink below to read about the two season opening sweep wins by the MACA volleyball team. This post also covers the MCA Invite in cross country. The post is on my companion website, "Morris of Course." Thanks for reading - B.W.

http://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2016/09/volleyball-tigers-start-with-two-sweep.html

 

Our school calendar tells us that Friday was Rosh Hashannah. The football game appeared to be less than a masterpiece. Our quarterback completed just three passes in six attempts and had two interceptions. The Tigers also lost two fumbles. We handed West Central Area some nice opportunities but it was the Tigers who prevailed, in a one-sided way in fact. I can only assume we had bigger and stronger players in many positions. We won by a 29-7 score. WCA didn't score a touchdown until the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile the Tigers took care of business early, putting 20 points on the board in the first quarter. We scored our other nine points in the second quarter. Jacob Zosel was a workhorse ballcarrier for MACA. Jacob bulled forward for 159 yards in 22 carries. Chase Metzger had 27 rushing yards in three carries. Toby Sayles passed for 38 yards. Three Tigers each had one reception: Connor Koebernick (17 yards), Ryan Bowman (eight yards) and Metzger (three yards).

Three different Tigers scored touchdowns in the first quarter. Zosel scored from the six. Dylan Gillespie kicked the point-after. Metzger raced to the end zone from the 15. The PAT try failed. Then Koebernick caught a 17-yard pass from Sayles. Gillespie's toe was true on the conversion kick, so MACA had a convincing 20-0 lead.

Ryan Dietz built up the margin further with a one-yard TD run. Gillespie produced the PAT. Our next two points came on a safety as Tim Travis tackled the WCA punter in the end zone.

West Central Area got its touchdown in big play fashion, as Ross Anderson passed 80 yards to Parker Clavin. Mason Nibbe kicked the point-after.

The running game clearly gave the orange and black the key advantage on this night. Our rushing yardage: 267. And WCA's: 46.

Ross Anderson passed for 107 yards for WCA but he had three interceptions. Clavin had two catches for 86 yards. Jacob Dreschel had eight carries of the football for WCA, for 26 yards.

Metzger had two of our interceptions while Parker Dierks had one. The tackle chart showed Dietz with five solos and five assists. Sayles had two solos and two assists, and Zosel likewise had 2-2 numbers.

 

Jottings:

I am supplying this coverage "under protest," sort of, because I no longer see football as an appropriate sport for high school boys. If nothing else, football should become a "club sport." No longer would boys in the high school hallways feel disposed to come out for football due to peer pressure.

Football is dangerous and not worth the many risks presented. It is a throwback sport from a time when it was equated with "macho." Nobody cares about that value anymore. It's too bad Morris Area Chokio Alberta boys don't have any options other than cross country, a sport which is not suited to the "big guys."

As for those big guys, we prove nothing by showing we have more big and strong boys than another school. It's just sad to see how the littler guys get pushed around. Surely many boys could find more constructive ways to spend their after-school time than to practice football. Social change takes time.

Will hockey in outstate Minnesota become a club sport? Morris-Benson is having a hard time cutting it now. Maybe we'll have club teams that cover a wide geographic area, and only occasional home games would be played at our Lee Center.

I'm not sure I would have given $1000 for the construction of Lee Center if I had known that Morris was not sustainable for having a team. "MBA" never excited me. Benson is supposed to be a rival, not a partner, eh? How many people don't even know what "MBA" is? I prefer the orange and black colors.

- Brian Williams - morris mn Minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com