Re-tooled Minutemen bolt past Cosmos

Football at North Clarendon.
http://rutlandherald.com/article/20140921/SPORTS02/709219999

Published September 21, 2014 in the Rutland Herald Re-tooled Minutemen bolt past Cosmos By JAMIE NORTON Correspondent NORTH CLARENDON – The Minutemen graduated a lot of talent from a team that went all the way to the Division III championship in 2013. So you’d think a rebuilding year might be in order, right? Nah. Mill River hasn’t appeared to have lost a step yet, and it proved that in a dominating 41-14 win over Springfield on Saturday. The Minutemen scored on every one of its first-half possessions, and even one of Springfield’s, during a game in which a sophomore quarterback and a junior running back proved this team, now 3-1, may not slow down for a few years yet. Mike Morgan was able to do pretty much whatever he wanted as his offensive line gave him all the time he needed all day. Not only did he complete 13 of 19 passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns, Morgan also ran the ball seven times for 112 yards. Meanwhile, his go-to guy, Zach Allen, ran for 78 yards on 12 carries and scored three TDs. Lineman Lucas Bendig got the Minutemen’s other touchdown on a fumble recovery, one of three Mill River had on the day. “It was a good day for us offensively,” Mill River coach Tucker Peterson said. “Mike did an OK job back there – we had a lot of protection (and) I thought the receivers were really on with what we were trying to get out of the routes; they were seeing the openings. Overall, it was a good team effort.” “Their size has kind of overwhelmed us a little bit,” Springfield coach Gary Harris said. “They had a big, aggressive team … No excuses – they came out (and) were more physical than we were in the first half … They came out and had a good game plan and caught us on our heels.” While the Cosmos were on their heels, the Minutemen were up on their toes from the opening kickoff. It only took Mill River 2:24 and eight plays on a 66-yard opening drive to get its first score. Morgan completed four passes for 38 yards on that drive, ran the ball for another 15, and passed off to Allen for a two-yard TD. Jake Bishop ran in the two-pointer to cap a quick 8-0 strike. Springfield showed a thrifty ability to move the ball up the field on its first possession, as Mitchell Greenwood collected 23 yards on his team’s 57-yard drive. But it was Greenwood’s fumble that would put the ball back in Mill River’s hands on its own 24-yard line. Morgan’s two 30-yard keepers helped the Minutemen get deep into Springfield territory, and on second-and-goal from the 5-yard line, he connected with Dylan Shelvey for a touchdown and 14-0 advantage. “We played physical at the point of attack,” Peterson said. “I thought (Springfield) did a pretty good job coming out of the gate, moving the ball, getting what they wanted, but we settled in. Our secondary started coming up (and) being a little more physical, and that helped.” “We seemed to get in our own way most of the time,” Harris said. “The only team that stops us on offense is us – either it’s a bad snap or it’s a penalty or it’s a fumble, or whatever it is – we’ve just got to find a way to finish (and) capitalize on good field position.” The Cosmos certainly stopped themselves on their next possession and were suddenly looking at a three-touchdown deficit when two penalties put the ball on their own 2-yard line and another fumble was recovered by Mill River – this time in the end zone by Bendig. Morgan’s point-after kick was good for a 21-0 lead with 11:54 left in the second quarter. “Throughout the year, so far, we haven’t had a fumble yet that we haven’t recovered,” Harris said. “Today, for whatever reason, we just didn’t seem to be fired up. We were kind of dead, and we turned the ball over – and that’s what happens.” “Any time you can be on the receiving end of a turnover, that’s a great thing,” Peterson said. “Turnovers just kill you as a team, which probably slowed them down and took their momentum away. They’re a good team – they’ve got a lot of guys who can play, just today it wasn’t cooking for ’em.” With almost an entire quarter left to play before halftime, though, there was still plenty of time for Springfield to turn this around. The Cosmos did get all the way to Mill River’s 25-yard line, but the Minutemen took the ball and the momentum right back with an interception by Morgan. A nine-play drive capped by Allen’s second touchdown of the day made it a four-score lead. Later, Morgan hit Shelvey in the end zone a second time, this time for a 20-yard TD, and Allen’s 12-yard bolt with 1:17 left in the half gave the home team crowd a 41-0 lead to celebrate during the intermission. “We got a couple quick, short completions (which) gave us a little confidence in the pass game,” Peterson said of his team’s first-half performance. “When we were able to consistently strike on the edge, it started to soften up the middle. Springfield certainly came out with the mindset of trying to stop some of that stuff in the run game, so we just attacked the edge a little bit with some quick passing.” The Cosmos finally got on the scoreboard with a pair of third-quarter touchdowns, both by Ben Tubbs. The first came on a reverse from Cody Cook that opened up the field for a 65-yard dart into the end zone at 6:26, and the second was on an identical play from 15 yards out at the 2:41 mark. Kyle Weeks passed to Josh Rivers for a two-point conversion after Tubbs’ second. Neither team would find paydirt again. “It’s always tough to manage games like this in the second half,” Peterson said. “You want to make sure you’re not putting guys in a bad situation. A couple guys got caught in a bad situation; we had to mix it up. They came out with a little bit more of a spread set and took advantage of a couple match-ups that we needed to adjust.” “We don’t do a lot of spread, but we’ve got some speed,” Harris said. “We spread them out and tried to get their big guys running a little bit. I think they got a little bit tired, and they lost some discipline on the corners. We got lucky on a reverse and scored. So, we have a lot of good offensive kids – we’ve just got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot.” The Cosmos are now 1-2 and host Oxbow on Friday. Meanwhile, the Minutemen gear up for a big showdown at Woodstock the same day in a rematch of last year’s title game. That one was won by the Wasps amidst a controversial call by the officials in overtime. “It’s always a good match-up,” Peterson said. “Hopefully, we can go down, carry our momentum, and have success.”