i love morris: 3 touchdown passes by Ozzy Jerome

Sunday, October 12, 2025

3 touchdown passes by Ozzy Jerome

The MACA football Tigers climbed over .500 with one game left in the regular season. The Tigers went on the road to notch this win. We're starting to see more fall-like weather now. What's it gonna be like for Wednesday? Yes it's that time of year for what my generation called the "MEA week game." Has that terminology been set aside? I sometimes think it has, like with many old practices.

"Christmas vacation." Quaint.

Well, MACA fans can feel mighty good now about how their team looked Friday. "The road" took them to Glencoe-Silver Lake, home of the "Panthers." The Tigers prevailed 27-16 and now sit with a 4-3 record. On Wednesday of this week we'll host the Wildcats of New London-Spicer. Hopefully the weather won't be hostile as it is right now as I'm writing the first draft of this.

The Tigers made a strong statement in the first quarter as they assumed a 15-0 lead. But the Panthers roared back in quarter No. 2 with a 16-0 scoring advantage. Yes, a battle of "big cats." So halftime saw the Tigers down by one.

The Tigers crept back with six points in the third while GSL scored zero. And then the fourth quarter was the same: a 6-0 advantage by the Tigers to wrap up the win. Final: 27-16.

Ozzy Jerome was a gunslinger with his arm in the first quarter. First he threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Alex Asmus. Riley Saito kicked the PAT. Then Ozzy passed 15 yards for a score to Jonah Huebner. We went up 15-0 thanks to the two-point conversion pass from Asmus to Jack Kehoe.

All the while the MACA 'D' kept the Panthers from making much offensive noise.

The Panthers took their turn with a productive offense in the second quarter. They found the end zone using the run. Brody Ruschmeier got his team on the board with a nine-yard run. He also carried for the successful two-point conversion.

Ruschmeier was at it again for a three-yard TD carry. He also carried successfully for the two-point conversion, thus the Panthers gained their one-point lead. They owned this lead at halftime.

In the third quarter an interception and return did the trick for our Tigers. The hero here: Hunter Westerman. This was an exciting 60-yard return for six. The conversion play was no-go. We now have the lead at 21-16.

We applied frosting on the cake in the fourth quarter with Ozzy's arm again showcased. The QB connected with Asmus for a big 37-yard scoring play.

Jerome had an efficient passing night, 8-for-12 for 163 yards and three TDs. Look at the average-per-completion: pretty impressive. He was picked off once.

Our running game was complementary. Here we see Jonah Huebner with 15 carries for 40 yards. Our net rushing yardage was 28 due to some losses.

Alex Asmus was our receiving standout with five catches for 95 yards and two touchdowns. Jack Kehoe had two catches for 53 yards and Jonah Huebner one catch for 15 (a TD). Hunter Westerman had a punt return for 30 yards. In kick returns we see Drake Asmus (one, for 25 yards) and Westerman (1-21). On defense, Kye Suess had a quarterback sack.

GSL had two players passing the football: Brody Ruschmeier and Trevor Engelmann. Their total passing yardage was 96. Ruschmeier bulled forward for 105 yards on the ground. The top pass-catcher was Connor Neid with four catches, 51 yards.

The Tigers have a short prep period now to ready for the Wildcats of New London-Spicer.

I think there's an error in the defensive stats in front of me. Because, GSL threw three interceptions but I only see zero under INTs for MACA. I do see three Tigers under the "forced fumbles" category but I think those were intended to be interceptions. So let's credit these three Tigers either way: Westerman, Kleindl and Saito.

Way to go, Tigers!

So it's Sunday

Tough to change one's habits based on your church biting the dust. Has the Morris newspaper had an article on this? The "pairing" of two long-time important churches in town? And they are not even in the same denomination? When Jim Morrison was at the paper, this subject would draw attention. Two churches of different denominations entering into a "pairing" agreement? Sounds bizarre.

It all started as a way to get through the summer. Of course Morris has long gone dead or at least limp in the summer. Flaccid?

First Lutheran of Morris

First Lutheran adjusted at one time in adopting one Sunday service in summer instead of the then-standard two. Oh I remember the days when First Lutheran families would choose on Sunday: the early service or the late service. Coffee hour in between. The days of two services are gone with the wind, the stuff of memories destined to fade.

I could see it coming: the one-Sunday-service arrangement being extended to the whole year. And so then it happened. A lot of the old traditions of the church like "UMM Sunday" just evaporated away. How far could this go? Well it certainly went further. You might say a bridge too far.

Would FLC pair with our fellow ELCA church in town, Faith Lutheran "across the tracks?" My that would seem logical. I never really figured out why Morris needed two ELCA churches. The stresses really set in when the new Good Shepherd got formed out on the windswept countryside north of town. Those folks are sure feeling the wind this morning. Did you know that when the first settlers arrived in these parts, they were shocked at how strong the wind could be?

Good Shepherd grew out of a rebellion against the ELCA. The ELCA was being perceived as "too liberal" and I guess it doesn't take much to be seen as liberal in rural western Minnesota. The late Truman Carlson left my First Lutheran Church in a distressed state of mind. Ditto Ken Johnson. And now it looks like the ELCA if anything is becoming more liberal.

In response I'd say it's nice that true liberals can find a comfortable church home in the Lutheran faith. We can't all be Apostolics or Republicans, though sometimes it seems everyone is a Republican out here.

As for myself, I cannot live with our new "hybrid" church, a combination of the Lutherans, Methodists and UCC. My family chose the mainstream Lutheran church in Morris back in the early '60s, probably 1960. When I write my checks out, it has been to First Lutheran Church. But the church has lost so much vitality so steadily over the years. And now we no longer have a weekly Sunday service. The decline has simply gone too far. Enough is enough.

I am left alone with my faith. It has always been a struggle to find "faith" because I grew up during the Vietnam war. Daily news reports out of Vietnam, as if this was a standard war that we simply had to fight. I was a skeptic from very early-on, from the start really. And the U.S. ended up losing the war. My childhood pastor at First Lutheran was Cliff Grindland, a Nixon Republican. That made it tough.

Following my departure from the Morris newspaper, I worked to renew my faith ties. It was sometimes tough due to the phlegmatic nature of FLC. I heard Dennis Johnson say "there's just no life in this church."

And so now I'm bereft of a real church. I can find some fulfillment online like with Triumphant Love Lutheran Church of Austin TX.

Oh I could always attend Faith Lutheran like I did last Sunday. But in Morris it's tough: If you switch from First to Faith or from Faith to First, "people talk." I don't need that.