Morris, Tondini run over Sterling

Morris' Adam Tondini (right) leaps over Sterling's Clay Hadley to pick up more yardage in the Redskins' 27-7 win Saturday night. Tondini finished with 166 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground and returned an interception 50 yards for another score.
(Michael Dinovo/Special to the Herald News)

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MORRIS -- Win or go home.

That's the mantra for high school football teams in the playoffs.

Since starting the season with a 2-4 record, it's been running through the collective heads of the Morris team for longer than that.

"It seems like we've been in the playoffs for two months now," Morris senior Adam Tondini said. "We didn't have a good start to the year, but we are coming together at the right time."

That's been due in large part to the play of Tondini himself, never more so than Saturday night's 27-7 win over Sterling that vaulted Morris (7-4) into the 5A quarterfinals, where they will visit Kankakee, a 22-21 overtime winner over Rochelle.

All Tondini did Saturday was run for 166 yards and 2 touchdowns on 29 carries, catch a 10-yard pass, complete a 12-yard pass and return an interception 50 yards for a touchdown to put the cherry on the Redskins' victory sundae.

"The line was opening huge holes all night, and my brother Drew at fullback was cleaning people out. I just followed him.

"The interception was the first one I have returned for a touchdown. It pretty much put an end to the game."

The pick-six was the second of two big plays by Tondini that sealed Sterling's fate.

Morris took a 14-7 lead into halftime, and received the second-half kickoff. The kick went out of bounds, giving the Redskins the ball at their own 35. Tondini ran for a 1-yard gain, then showed why he was an first-team all-area selection last year.

Tondini broke through the line, cut to the right and outran the Sterling defense for a 64-yard touchdown.

"That play was wide open the play before that," Morris coach George Dergo said. "Our tackle (A.J. Ulrich) just missed his block. So we called it again and A.J. got his block and Adam did the rest.

"My hat's off to the two Tondinis. They are football players. They have put this team on their back."

With Morris holding onto a 21-7 lead, the rest was up to the defense, and that defense didn't disappoint. They stifled a Sterling offense that entered averaging 32.5 points and 236 rushing yards a game to 7 points and 135 yards on the ground.

"We played assignment defense," defensive coordinator Andy Peterson said. "The kids reminded each other what their assignments were and some of them wrote them on their hands. We had to play disciplined defense for four quarters and we did that for the most part.

"Our guys up front -- Robert Hicks, Melo Hairapetian and Tyler Ness -- took their fullback away and when you take away one of their three options, it makes things easier."

It wasn't so easy for the Redskins early.

Sterling (9-2) received the opening kickoff and the two teams traded 3-and-outs. After a 3-yard gain by Sterling's Ben Minnick, quarterback Nico Rivera connected with Dustin Fritsch for a 59-yard touchdown. Raciel Ocampo's kick gave the Golden Warriors a 7-0 lead.

Morris answered with a 12-play, 80-yard drive that had Tondini written all over it. Adam carried 9 times for 61 yards and Drew carried 3 times for 19 yards, including the last three. His TD with 2:02 remaining, coupled with David Balzer's extra point, tied the game.

In the second quarter, Morris took over at its own 43. On 2nd-and-9, Adam Tondini gained 10 yards, and another 15 was added on after a personal foul. On 3rd-and-9 from the Sterling 27, Matt Hussey hit Adam Tondini in the left flat for a 10-yard gain, and Adam followed Drew around the right end on the next play for a 17-yard touchdown.

Sterling responded by driving to the Morris 10 and kicking a field goal. However, Morris was whistled for being offside and Sterling went for it on 4th-and-2. Rex Layne broke up the pass in the end zone to preserve the lead.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Morris' Devin Singer broke up another pass in the end zone on fourth down. Later in the quarter, Matt Gronek intercepted a pass in the end zone and then Tondini stepped in front of a pass at midfield and went the distance to cap the scoring.

"We knocked them around like we wanted to in the first half," Dergo said. "I got a little conservative in the second half and we didn't move the ball real well. But that's my fault.

"The defense did a great job all night. Devin Singer had a great game, and so did Tyler Ness. We've been getting better and better each week."