High School Football

Morton Ranch survives thriller with Jordan, has chance at clinching playoff berth

By Tyler Tyre, Sports Editor
Posted 11/4/22

“It’s an amazing feeling. Potentially being able to stop the drought, being able to make history, especially to help these younger guys so they could see what it’s like to be in these situations and get to the playoffs and build on it. It’s just exactly what we wanted coming into the year and it’s a blessing.

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High School Football

Morton Ranch survives thriller with Jordan, has chance at clinching playoff berth

Posted

Morton Ranch knew what was at stake on Thursday.

A loss to Jordan, and the Mavericks would finish a game out of the fourth and final spot for the third year straight. But a win, a win would give the Mavericks a good chance at breaking a five-year playoff drought, the longest in Katy ISD.

It was all on the line for Morton Ranch, just like the team wanted it to be, and the Mavericks showed exactly why they knew they could be a playoff team, beating Jordan 36-33 at Rhodes Stadium and staying alive, with hopes that they can clinch their first playoff berth since 2017 on Friday.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” said senior running back Santana Scott. “Potentially being able to stop the drought, being able to make history, especially to help these younger guys so they could see what it’s like to be in these situations and get to the playoffs and build on it. It’s just exactly what we wanted coming into the year and it’s a blessing. It will only make these guys better net year and going forward.”

Morton Ranch controlled the game from the start, but had to withstand a late comeback attempt from Jordan to earn the win in what was one of the most thrilling games out of the district all season.

Scott got the Mavericks on the board early, taking a handoff 74-yards for a touchdown and then doubled the lead in the second quarter by scoring on a 2-yard touchdown run. He finished the night with 188 yards on 26 carries to go with his two scores.

“The thing people don’t realize about Santana is he does everything,” said Morton Ranch head coach Ron Counter. “He’s a good blocker, he catches passes, he returns punts and kickoffs, in my opinion he does as much or more for his team than any player in the district along with Gavin Rutherford. Santana is just an awesome player and an awesome kid.”

Morton Ranch added to the lead late in the second quarter with a 29-yard field goal, as they went into the half with a 17-0 lead, but the best unit of the first half was the Morton Ranch defense, which held a high powered Jordan offense scoreless and made a number of big plays.

“We really had such a locked in week of practice,” said senior linebacker Amiri Jack. “We had a really good gameplan coming in and then we came out and executed it. We were able to do a really good job slowing them down and stopping them in the first two quarters and it kind of helped turn the game in our favor.”

Jordan got on the board early in the third quarter with a 60-yard interception return by Zion Jones, but Morton Ranch answered back and seemed to have complete control midway through the third quarter, as Josh Johnson ran in a 23-yard touchdown run But Jordan never stopped believing.

The Warriors got their second score of the game late in the third quarter on a 32-yard run from Chad Gasper, and after an onside recover Jordan immediately made it a one-score game, as Colin Willetts threw a 45-yard touchdown to Zechariah Sample to make things 23-18.

Jordan seemed to have all the momentum, and after a Morton Ranch 3-and-out, the Warriors offense took the field with a chance to take the lead, but Jack immediately turned the momentum back Morton Ranch’s way, as he intercepted a pass and returned it 17-yards for a score.

“We knew we had to make a stop,” Jack said. “They had the momentum, they had scored on us two straight drives and had made it a close game so we knew we had to do something. We just went out and did our job, I read what they were doing and was able to make a play on it and I’m just happy I was able to do that.”

Jordan was able to answer back, as Colin Willetts threw a 13-yard touchdown to Connor Babin, but Morton Ranch responded with a touchdown of their own. Jordan again made it a one score game with just under two minutes to go. But a first down on Morton Ranch’s next drive sealed things and the celebration started for the Mavericks.

Morton Ranch won’t know until Friday night if they have secured that final playoff spot, but no matter what, it’s been a successful year for the Mavericks and they are proud of what they have been able to accomplish.

“We’ve been on the cusp these last two years, we’ve been so close,” Scott said. “That motivated all of us, the whole offseason all we wanted was to prove ourselves and make the playoffs. We put in the work, we had the chemistry, we strived to reach the goal and to know that we are right there, that we might have done it. It’s just the best thing I could ask for.”

Morton Ranch 36, Jordan 33

Morton Ranch

7

10

6

13

 --

36

Jordan

0

0

12

21

--

33

First quarter

MR: Santana Scott 74 run (Angel Roberto Rincon kick) 8:01

Second quarter

MR: Scott 2 run (Rincon kick) 8:54

MR: Rincon 29 field goal, 6:06

Third quarter

J: Zion Jones 60 interception return, 9:58

MR: Josh Johnson 23 run, 5:16

J: Chad Gasper 32 run, 0:08

Fourth quarter

J: Colin Willetts 45 pass to Zechariah Sample, 11:51

MR: Amiri Jack 17 interception return (Rincon kick) 8:48

J: Willetts 13 pass to Connor Babin (Jake Kilander kick) 7:17

MR: Johnson 25 pass to Mike Gerald, 4:05

J: Willetts 4 pass to Sample (Willetts pass to Gasper) 1:52

Team stats

Morton Ranch

Jordan

  First downs

11

12

  Yards rushing

42-252

18-42

  Yards passing

125

276

  Passes

5-14-1-1

19-38-3-1

  Punts

5-34

3-40

  Fumbles-lost

0-0

2-2

  Penalty-yards

5-62

6-46

Individual Statistics

Rushing – Morton Ranch: Santana Scott, 26-188-2; Josh Johnson, 12-52; Ryan Hall, 4-12; Jordan: Chad Gasper, 7-39-1; Zechariah Sample, 2-4; Cilon Willetts, 6-3; Zechariah Sample, 2-4; Zion Jones, 1-2; Ifeanyi Monye, 1-0;

Passing – Morton Ranch: 5-14-125-1-1; Jordan: Colin Willetts, 19-38-276-3-1

Receiving – Morton Ranch: Jairon Davis, 2-79; Mike Gerald, 1-25; Santana Scott, 1-13; Cameron Hudson, 1-8; Jordan: Andrew Marsh, 4-105; Zechariah Sample, 9-103-2; Deacon Stanfield, 3-44; Connor Babin, 2-22-1; Chad Gasper, 1-2;

Morton Ranch, Katy ISD, sports, football, District 19-6A