High School Football: Emotions, flags, get the best of Mark Morris at Ridgefield
Wet Laundry – Penalties stifle Monarchs' upset bid in 34-20 loss to Spudders
Drew Lawson for Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com
High School Football / Report
RIDGEFIELD — What do you get when you mix a head coach getting ejected in the third quarter, two underclassman quarterbacks dueling it out and intermittent drizzles and downpours?
Well, that would sound just like a classic 2A Greater St. Helens matchup. And that’s precisely what the fans at Spudder Stadium were treated to Friday. Alas, it was the Monarchs of Mark Morris that headed north back to Longview rueing a 34-20 loss while the coaching staff was assuredly listening to Rick Rizzs call the end of the Mariners’ own 15-inning thriller.
Speaking of the Mark Morris coaching staff, one of the more bizarre moments of the season occurred at the end of the third quarter. But it took longer than that to figure out what, exactly, had happened.
Ridgefield had driven to the Mark Morris 5-yard line after the Monarchs muffed a punt in their own end zone and damage-control ran it out five yards.
But the Monarch defense was ready, collapsing into a pile around Ridgefield’s running backs and forcing a fumble. That’s when, according to MM head coach Mike Peck, he began jumping up and down in celebration and quickly earned a one-way ticket to the locker room.
Peck was first flagged for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Then, when he inquired as to why, another flag came out, and he was reportedly asked to leave the stadium.
So, the Monarchs’ head man could do nothing more than watch the rest of the game from an old potato field outside a faraway fence as Ridgefield pulled away in the fourth quarter.
“I’m still stunned and speechless,” Peck said hours later.
In the meantime, a football game was played. And the opening minutes were indicative of the fireworks that would be displayed, both on the turf and slightly off it.
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