Ritchie County takes down Clay-Battelle in round one
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ELLENBORO --The first round of the Class A state playoffs treated No. 4 Ritchie County kindly, as Gus Morrison and company ran all over No. 13 Clay-Battelle in a 46-14 showing on Saturday afternoon from Jack Schofield Memorial Stadium.
Ritchie County's vaunted rushing attack was in top form even against a Clay-Battelle line that challenged up front, as RCHS broke off 329 yards on the ground to set the pace. It didn't help matters for the visiting Cee Bees when Carson Shriver went to punt after their first possession. Shriver, who was CBHS's biggest offensive threat, fielded a low snap and corralled it on one knee at the Cee Bee 15. The miscue set the Rebels up with a short field, and Ethan Haught made the visitors pay with a 14-yard strike to Marlon Moore for the game's first score with 9:15 left in the opening quarter.
Clay-Battelle relied on Shriver to do the bulk of the carries, but he couldn't get anything going on the next drive. From there, Gus Morrison rumbled for a 68-yard gain that flipped the field into the CBHS red zone. On the day, Morrison cruised in 12 rushes for 164 yards and three scores. Following a Brandon Riddle rush that placed the ball at the CB 7, Morrison punched it in as Ritchie extended its lead from 8-0 to 16-0 in a hurry. The effort from Ritchie's ballcarriers and offensive line got Morrison talking following the opening-round triumph.
"I thought our line and outside guys were blocking really well," the senior said. "Then, our defense has stepped up a crazy amount since last week (in a 45-20 win over Calhoun County). They kind of ran the same offense that Wahama did earlier in the season, and we couldn't stop that in the earlier part of the season, but we did it tonight (with two fumble recoveries and a fourth-quarter interception by Riddle).
"(Ethan) is one of the top quarterbacks in the state, as far as I'm concerned. He has a crazy mind, but he can get it done.
"Our line is one of the faster lines in the state, and we can get there and beat them to the spot. Even if they were stronger, we got there faster. I say we're about (where we need to be). We need to clean up some other stuff, like the kickoff we let go for six, but it's just the little things we need to clean up."
The kickoff Morrison talked about came after his second touchdown that made it 24-0 with less than a minute left in the first. Shriver fielded the ensuing kick from the 16 and took it down the right sideline for a score, but that was the biggest play given up by RCHS. The second frame saw both defenses dial up pressure, as points were at a premium. Perhaps the biggest example of that came on a Clay-Battelle drive that started on its own 41 with 3:02 to go in the half. The drive stalled at the Ritchie 45 on a third down when Morgan Knight stripped Shriver to give the ball back to Ritchie.
The second half saw Haught's struggles running the ball subside, as the opening Ritchie possession ended on a 15-yard read option keeper for the quarterback. Earlier that drive, he ran for 22 yards to compliment a 16-yarder from Riddle for a 1-2 punch to start things off. Tack on a 12-yard touchdown run on a broken play late in the third, and Haught quickly turned his fortune around.
In the first half, he ran five times for five yards lost, but he ended the day rushing 11 times for 49 yards and two touchdowns. One final Morrison tally gave the game its final score, as head coach Rick Haught gave his thoughts on the offense and what Mount View brings to the table for next week. No. 5 Mount View downed No. 12 Sherman 18-6 and are making the trip to Ellenboro for the state quarterfinals.
"We came out of the gate, and early, we were getting what we wanted," he said. "When it was as easy as it was in the first quarter, you can't give a team a reason to wake up. We did on the kickoff return, so we had a breakdown in coverage there. That woke them up, and they were bigger than us up front, I thought as the game went longer. Mount View has some skill players that keep guys up late at night, so it'll be about us keeping their kids contained. We have a lot of respect for the athletes they have, and they've got some decent size, too."
Despite the slight hiccups made later in the game, Haught was complimentary of how his squad put scoring drives together to put the contest out of reach.
"I'm going to be honest with you. On the read option (Ethan scored on), we've had that in all year, and he's never utilized it," the coach admitted. "He read it correctly, and I was watching my fullback. I'll have to see it on film, because I didn't see his run. When he took off (on the 12-yard touchdown), I was proud of him, because he ran through four tacklers. I thought going into this game that Gus could have a big game, and it was. We featured him there, since we thought his abilities boded well with what Clay-Battelle was going to do."
Contact Josh Hughes at jhughes@newsandsentinel.com