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Hammond Morton's season comes to a close
Updated: May 9, 2012 10:00AM
HAMMOND — Morton senior wide receiver Brock Daniels plopped down next to senior quarterback Chris McCormack on the end of the Governors bench and consoled his teammate.
Their season and careers at Morton were over, but there was plenty to be pleased with over the past three years. The Governors were 34-6 over their past 40 games and won three straight sectional titles, along with a regional crown.
It was certainly a missed opportunity, though.
The Governors (11-2), who dropped the regional championship contest, 33-20, to South Bend Washington on Friday night, committed four turnovers — including two fumbles on back-to-back possessions in the second half — that eventually led to their demise.
“This was a game we could have won and we just let it slip right through our hands,” Morton coach Roy Richards said. “We’ve had four fumbles all year and we fumbled two there on back-to-back drives. But we had none last week (in the sectional win over Griffith) and that’s what counts and that’s why we’re here.”
The Governors were, in fact, the creators of many opportunities on Friday night as they recovered an onside kick, made two interceptions, recovered three fumbles and even caught their first TD on a tipped pass.
They needed to be aggressive against the Panthers (10-3) because they were facing a running back in David Perkins, who had once committed to the University of Notre Dame but now is going to play football at top-ranked LSU next season, and state record-breaking wide receiver Gehrig Dieter.
And those two were everything they lived up to be.
Dieter went 51 yards on the third play of scrimmage to put his team ahead, 7-0, to start the game, then added a 35-yard TD catch to end the first half to give the Panthers a 21-7 halftime cushion. He finished with 125 yards receiving on five catches.
Perkins was likewise dynamic rushing for 112 yards, one touchdown and recovering two fumbles on the defensive end.
But Morton was in it for much of the contest.
The Governors’ Eleazar Henderson scored the team’s first TD on a five-yard pass play to even the game with 16.6 seconds left in the first quarter. Luck was on Morton’s side as Henderson ran the wrong route, according to McCormack.
“We’ll take some luck,” said McCormack, who finished with 94 passing yards and three touchdowns. “He said he ran the wrong route but I didn’t care. We got the job done.”
Morton also got the job done in the second half when the momentum seemed to be in S.B. Washington’s direction. Senior Alfred Dickey blitzed Panthers quarterback Daigien Morgan two consecutive snaps sacking him for seven yards on the first one and forcing him to throw an interception on the next one.
The Governors didn’t capitalize and had to punt, but the “D” came right back and forced a fumble on the very next play. Morton took care of business as McCormack connected with Robert House for a 15-yard TD pass cutting the deficit to 21-14.
Perkins broke the Governors’ back, however, on a 52-yard run down the sidelines with 6:02 left in the game that would have made Carl Lewis jealous. Perkins had just two runs over 20 yards but the last one sealed the deal.
McCormack said he would never forget his career at Morton.
“These last few years meant the world to me,” he said. “Just having classes and hanging out with all these guys; we’re all friends. I expected football to be fun here but (our accomplishments) just blew me away.
“I’ve been playing football since I was 8 and I’ve only had a few coaches but if I said (coach Richards) wasn’t the best and my favorite coach that would be a lie.”
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