On an opening Aug. 30 night when both teams struggled offensively for long stretches, Morton Ranch wide receiver Josh Gaton had multiple catches against Cypress Lakes to illustrate why his coach calls him one of the most underrated talents in the district, including a dynamic, single-handed 63-yard snag for the go-ahead score with 44 seconds left.

On the next play, Gaton caught the 2-point conversion, capping off a stellar night for the senior and giving Morton Ranch a 20-14 lead it would hold on to for a season-opening win at Rhodes Stadium.

But when he was asked about his catch, Gaton was low-key, stressing that he knew he had the talent and connection with senior quarterback Jaden Diaz to make the grab.

“All the credit goes to my quarterback. He’s been throwing the ball since sixth grade, so he’s like my second brother over there,” Gaton said. “He has trust in me and I have trust in him … I know my skills, and I felt like I had that.”

On the play, a defensive back had seemingly covered it perfectly, putting himself between Gaton and the ball. However, Gaton reached around the defender’s body, pinned it to the defender’s hip, and then collected the ball in stride, running another 20 to 25 yards for the touchdown.

Earlier in the night, Gaton had the only other touchdown scored by the Mavericks, which required another phenomenal effort on his part. Diaz threw a high-arching ball toward the end zone, and Gaton managed to get separation from his defender at the last moment for a 33-yard catch.

“My coach always tells me to wait to put up your hands to catch the ball, because the DB follows that,” Gaton said. “It always starts at the beginning of the game. I’m always confident about our quarterback and the chemistry we have, so I knew that I could bring down the ball.”

Gaton’s effort helped cover up the issues of the Morton Ranch offense, which couldn’t find a rhythm for almost all of the game’s first three quarters. Gaton’s first touchdown came with 16 seconds left in the third quarter, pulling the Mavericks closer to Cy-Lakes, 14-12. It was also the first completed pass of the game for Morton Ranch.

Morton Ranch coach Ron Counter said as they got further into the game, they tried to get the ball into Gaton’s hands more.

“I was just trying to call some plays to get him the ball, because he’s a playmaker,” the veteran coach said. “I think he’s a little underrated, I think he’s got great ball skills and he’s a playmaker. We need him to make plays and he did.”

In the first half, Diaz played two possessions before being pulled in favor of junior Eric Arambula. But Arambula struggled as well in three possessions before the end of the first half, finishing with two incomplete passes and one yard on two carries.

Diaz returned to the game and finished with a final line of 5-for-13 passing and 110 yards. Gaton caught four of those passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns.

“Jaden started the game and he ended the game, so right now he’s our No. 1 (QB),” Counter said. “He’s a senior and Eric’s a junior, but you know, it was the first game of the year and they’ll get better. It wasn’t just them making mistakes, though. We missed some blocks and got some penalties.”

Penalties and sloppy plays ultimately hurt both teams—Morton Ranch finished with 10 penalties for 95 yards, and Cy-Lakes had 17 penalties for 101 yards. Both teams had a turnover, and in the frantic final 44 seconds, two Cy-Lakes wide receivers dropped passes in the end zone.

Gaton stressed that this was the Mavericks’ first game, after all, and he expected more from himself and his team in the future.

“We’re going to have some up and downs,” he said, adding that he was just glad to notch that first win. “It’ll be about the next game and fixing our mistakes. I thank my mother for this, she brought me into this world, and I love her so much, and the second person I thank is God.”