I arrived at mid-game when the Tigers had yet to score. That changed pretty quickly. I left the game wondering how our Tigers had ever gotten behind. We proceeded to own this game once I showed up. I'm happy to be of help LOL.
So MACA won in this very prompt re-match with the Otters of Fergus Falls. Isn't Fergus a quite larger community than Morris? A feather in one's cap to beat the larger town. And we've done it twice with Fergus Falls. On Tuesday the orange and black prevailed in the 15-12 final. So it's on to more playoff conquests. We hope the weather keeps cooperating.
Tuesday was the day for quarter-final action of Section 8AAA. I hadn't arrived yet when the Otters gained the 6-0 lead on a four-yard carry by Griffin Babolian. The next MACA possession was three-and-out. The Otters' offense was clicking when next they got the ball. But penalties cropped up to dull their progress. The result: a punt. The Tigers were sputtering at this stage of the game. Our quarterback got sacked on third down. The Otters' Carston Fronning got credit on the sack.
The Otters then showed a flair with the big play. Henry Bethel did the throwing and Isaiah Holmes made the catch. So it was a 40-yard gain. Bethel capped the possession with a four-yard run. But Fergus whiffed again on the conversion play. The halftime situation looked good for the visitor: a 12-0 score with the Tigers having been shut down.
That would change. But not right away. We did advance the ball to the Fergus 31. We came up shy on fourth down. We stuffed the Otters on their next possession. Another punt. Our offensive woes were about to end! It was Drew Huebner, our quarterback, who found the end zone from a yard out. A successful point-after left us five points down, 12-7.
At this sage I was watching from my usual perch along the sidewalk leading to the south entrance of the UMM P.E. Center or whatever it's called now. It's kind of nice because you can slip into the P.E. Center and get warm anytime.
Bring on the fourth quarter. The Tigers advanced the ball to midfield and then gave it up on a "pooch punt." Huebner executed that play. Fergus Falls had fallen into offensive doldrums by this stage of the game. We added to their woes by blocking a punt. Now we're set up in the Fergus Falls "red zone!" Great setup for another score but it did not happen, at least not right away.
Keep an eye on field position, as it can be a mighty big factor. At first the Fergus Falls defense really bore down, stopping us after we had achieved first and goal. The Otters had a true goal line stand. A few minutes remained to be played in the fourth quarter. The Otters' satisfaction with the goal line stand gave way to the sober reality of terrible field position.
Fergus dodged a bullet as the ball got loose but Fergus retained possession. But the recovery was at the one yard line, pretty bad news for them. Fergus then sought to get out of the hole with a long pass. Interception! Alexander Sperr was the Tiger in the right place to execute this. Now the Tigers had the ball in the red zone again. Not to be denied this time! Owen Anderson carried the ball into the end zone from the three. Our two-point conversion try was good!
About a minute is left in quarter No. 4 and we're up 15-12. With backs to the wall, the Otters turned the ball over on downs. MACA fans enjoyed the satisfaction of victory as our team went into the "victory formation."
Our total offense was 195 yards and it was all accomplished on the ground! Rather a surprise. We do have a capable passing attack. Anderson was a workhorse with 132 yards on 28 carries. He broke loose in second half play. Our W/L record was elevated to 6-3.
Another re-match awaits the Tigers. Now we're matched against Perham again, the Yellowjackets. The game date is Oct. 28.
The Fergus Falls total offense number was 246 yards. The Otters' passing was pretty good. Bethel completed 18 passes in 29 attempts for 179 yards. But he threw the interception of course. Fergus ends its season at 2-7.
Cate Kehoe in state
I'll have to share some media notes. Unfortunately Brett Miller has left our Morris radio station. We lost Marshall Hoffman prior to that. So much talent going out the door. Miller of late had been posting high-quality sports reports on a variety of teams and individuals on the radio station's website. You can still find info there but I do not find it to be as reliable and polished as it was.
Miller's posts were a good info source as I continued my online writing about the MACA Tigers. It was not the only source. I can get past the West Central Tribune paywall and so can rely on some details reported there. But there's far less MACA info there than previously.
We are not officially in the WC Trib's coverage radius any more. No more "All Area Team" eligibility. Maybe the WC Trib will review this position at some point. I do get the sense that if MACA coaches would call in, those calls would be taken and notes taken. Very often these days, if MACA is in a game with an opponent who is covered by the WC Trib, we'll see "stats not available" for MACA. That looks bad for us, discouraging. So maybe we ought to call in from time to time. I have had hardly any opportunity to type names of the MACA volleyball players this fall. I'm quite disappointed.
This morning I had the "miracle" of discovering that I could get past the Fergus Falls Daily Journal online paywall by using the "incognito" trick. The WC Trib has shut that off. I was surprised that this worked with the Fergus Falls paper, because I noticed previously that their paywall seemed tight. I didn't even try it until this morning.
A couple months ago I commented to our tennis coach Britney House - I have to be careful not to type "Britney Greenwaldt" - that in my opinion, all MACA sports reports should be on sites that are totally free access. Why should any private business try to make money on these? Let's get with the times. The school's wonderful "YouTube geniuses" operate completely away from the legacy business media. Forget about the legacy business media. That's yesterday.
I can tell you from consulting with the radio station site at present that our Cate Kehoe has made the state tennis tournament. Cate was No. 1 at the section level. For the section title she defeated No. 1 seed Brooke Lindeman of Montevideo. First Cate won 6-4, then she polished things off 6-1. The state gets going on Thursday.
I was once a co-worker with Cate's grandmother Janet Kehoe, and for sure Janet is excited about this! Action will be in Minneapolis.
I have found cross country info to be hard to come by of late. Why can't people in the Morris community come forth and put pressure on the Morris newspaper to do something of value with its website? Many newspapers at least try to do something of value there. Ours does nothing except repeat UMM sports news which is fully available on UMM's own website. Can anyone figure out why this is? I guess not, because this is Morris. The only thing people care about here is "getting away to the lake" on summer weekends.
I invite you to compare my coverage of the MACA vs. Fergus game with what you see on the newspaper website today, tomorrow or the next day. Give them a little time I guess.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minneesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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