Published: October 24, 2009 01:09 am      

Mustangs strike fast to defeat Steamers

FULTON, Ill. — Morrison didn’t have far to go Friday night to complete its perfect regular season.

The 15-minute drive to Fulton High School aside, the Mustangs found themselves playing on the Fulton side of the football field almost the entire first half en route to a 41-0 victory over their Big Rivers rivals.

Touchdown drives of 49, 50, 49, 27, 36 and 24 yards all came before halftime as the Illinois Class 2A top-ranked Mustangs (9-0) defeated Fulton for the sixth straight time in the Wooden Shoe Bowl.

Senior running back Kyle Janssen found the end zone on three of his seven total carries, scoring on runs of 2, 41 and 9 yards.

“The (offensive) line, they’ve been awesome this season,” Janssen said. “They just pound people over — and once I get out in the open, I just turn on the wheels.”

The Steamers (2-7) struggled to move the ball, gaining 41 total yards of offense.

“Against some of these upper-echelon teams in the conference, it’s tough for us to get going offensively,” Fulton coach Patrick Lower said. “(Give) credit to Morrison; they’re a very good football team, and they’re going to be a tough out in the playoffs.”

Fulton dipped into its bag of tricks several times in the first half, starting with a failed onside kick on the opening kickoff. Five running plays later, Morrison had a 7-0 lead.

The opening play of the second quarter had a similar result. Morrison’s Dan Dennehey intercepted a pass thrown by Zach Ryder, who had caught a backward pass from quarterback Tyler Renkes.

Later in the second quarter, the Steamers were able to keep a drive alive as the result of two fake-punt attempts (the first of which failed but drew a 15-yard roughing penalty).

Renkes struggled with his accuracy, completing 10 of 29 passes and throwing three interceptions.

“We’re very proud of Tyler Renkes and what he’s done for us,” Lower said. “He’s done a lot of good things for this program.”

Lower added that he’s sad to see this senior class go.

“I’m gonna go back in the locker room and give them hugs and let them know how much I appreciate their effort,” he said.

For Morrison, the effort turns to the playoffs, which kick off next weekend.

“I’m extremely proud,” Morrison coach Cory Bielema said of the perfect regular season. “These kids achieved this by their work in the offseason, starting way back last November. Their hard work came through, and it showed on the field on Friday nights.”

Morrison also got touchdown runs from Patrick Wagenecht, Josh Vos and Tyler Snow. Vos led the way with 105 yards rushing on 13 carries.

Scoring by quarters

Morrison 21 20 0 0 — 41

Fulton 0 0 0 0 — 0

First quarter

M — Kyle Janssen 2 run (Kyle Dermody kick), 9:53

M — Patrick Wagenecht 4 run (Dermody kick), 5:25

M — Janssen 41 run (Dermody kick), 1:07

Second quarter

M — Janssen 9 run (Dermody kick), 9:55

M — Josh Vos 36 run (kick failed), 4:42

M — Tyler Snow 10 run (Dermody kick), 1:43

Individual statistics

Rushing — Morrison, Vos 13-105, Janssen 7-78, Snow 6-25, Conner Bealer 2-22, Jason Caruso 2-15, Andrew Cook 1-14, Wagenecht 2-10, Brandon Neighbour 1-7, Andy Shaver 2-2, Dan Dennehey 1-(-1); Fulton, Zach Ryder 9-26, Tyler Renkes 4-(-7).

Passing — Morrison, Cook 1-3-1-14, Dennehey 0-1-0-0; Fulton, Renkes 10-29-3-22, Ryder 0-1-1-0.

Receiving — Morrison, Dermody 1-14; Fulton, Ashton Hutton 4-21, Brandon Schneider 1-4, Alex Wherry 1-3, Brian Zahnle 2-0, Ryder 2-(-6).