High School Football: Civil War shutout puts Mark Morris and R.A. Long on opposite paths
Pigskin Pigtails – Monarchs prepare for playoff with Aberdeen; Lumberjacks close out winless campaign
Prep Football / Report
THE STADIUM – There was a 10-minute stretch of time after the Civil War last week where the future was still unknown and all that mattered was what had transpired on the field at Longview Memorial Stadium between Mark Morris and R.A. Long.
The Monarchs, holding a 36-0 shutout victory in their clutches, had done everything they could down the stretch in an attempt to extend their season. But there was no way to know if it was going to be enough, because Mark Morris didn’t hold exclusive control over its destiny.
Instead, the Monarchs had to go through the hand shake line, and then huddle up for their postgame debriefing in the end zone, without knowing if they were about to take their pads off for the final time.
“Honestly that was so weird. I really don’t have words to describe it,” Mark Morris head coach Mike Peck said. “You’re celebrating a really good win. You’re really happy with the kids and the kids are excited, but there’s a holding pattern where you don’t know if your season is over. So you don’t know if you should celebrate your seniors and thank them for all their time, or if you’re moving on. But you can’t just sit there and do nothing.”
Mark Morris needed Ridgefield to defeat Woodland in Week 9 in order to clinch a playoff spot. And while the Monarchs had been eviscerating their crosstown rivals, the Spudders and Beavers had been going back and forth like a crosscut saw down in Clark County. So as time stretched out like Halloween candy in the sun, the Monarchs broke from their huddle and rushed toward the grandstand in order to sing the fight song with their peers and mingle with their fans and families.
It was the first time the Monarchs had allowed their guard to come down over the course of a three-game win streak to close out the season.
“Honestly Peck did a really good job keeping us focused on what’s ahead because that (Woodland vs Ridgefield game) was an uncontrollable,” MM senior Deker Bartell said. “This was our most important game. If we didn’t win tonight, nothing else mattered”
That’s when word slowly began to trickle out amongst the masses swarming the track. First a “hooray!” from over here, and then a “yippee!” from over there. Finally, a message was put up on the video scoreboard and the call came out over the stadium PA system: Final score Ridgefield 17, Woodland 16.
The Mark Morris Monarchs were officially playoff bound, and the celebration transformed from tea time with the queen to a full blown monster mash.
“You can see what it means to them by how they reacted when they found out Ridgefield won,” Peck said. “They love this game. They love being a part of this team. And they want to keep this thing going as long as they can.”
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