Prep Football: Mark Morris shuts out Columbia River for Peck's first win

Carlos Spackler / Blast Zone Media

Special to Blast Zone Media

As a quarterback for R.A. Long through the 2005 season, and in subsequent coaching stops across the west – and the decades -- Mike Peck has carved a swashbuckling signature which tracks nicely with the evolution of the game at its highest level, directing increasingly sophisticated and explosive passing attacks. But as the Mark Morris first-year head coach’s troops rumbled into crunch time of their Greater St. Helens 2A League opener against Columbia River on Friday at Longview Memorial Stadium, Peck’s philosophy reverted to a more fundamental, even ancient domain, and he announced it loud enough that it could be heard on the opposite sideline.

“Get a yard!” Peck bellowed. “Get a yard! Let’s go!”

Peck’s Monarchs obliged, gaining a bit more than one yard at a time while yielding a bit less on defense, and wrapped up a 14-0 victory. The black-and-baby-blue shutout was suplexed into existence by a swarming MM defense that had four sacks, nine tackles-for-loss, scored on a safety, recovered a fumble, and intercepted the Chieftains once. Columbia River had 21 carries for minus-2 yards and completed just 10 of 28 passes. After surrendering 90 points in two non-league games against elite competition to inaugurate Peck’s second Longview era, the Monarch D allowed a paltry 147 total yards.

“New season, seems like a fresh start, a whole new season,” said MM tailback Kenneth Mullen, Jr. “The defense did great. A shutout. (It was) beautiful.”

It looked just as good to the man in the headset.

“First ‘W’ for the guys; that’s the most important thing,” Peck added. “They’ve been working hard since spring, and they deserve this. Winning is hard.”

Mullen, who after the game voiced his approval of the alias “Sneaky” substituted for his first name by the PA announcer after each of his 24 carries, complemented the defensive effort, and turned the clock against the visitors, by rushing for 82 yards, including a 9-yard touchdown run in the second quarter which gave MM an 8-0 lead. His running was subtle, careful, methodical and patient, a choreography of well-timed cuts and delays which could have fit on a postage stamp.

“Oh yeah, I’m very sneaky,” he said, smiling. “I move around quick.”

Fellow senior Carter Huhta rushed for 69 yards and completed 8 of 15 passes for 73, connecting with Deker Bartell for a 27-yard touchdown with 7:45 left in the third quarter to complete the scoring.

“We were better today than we were last week, and we continue to make progress in the right direction,” said Peck. “We have an incredible group of kids who’ve bought into the culture and vision we’re trying to create.”

Bartell’s touchdown catch was one of two standout grabs by the junior wideout, who ran a go route with an outside release, timed his jump perfectly, and high-pointed the ball away from a defender who had him boxed out in the endzone. It was the second time he made a last-second adjustment on a deep ball, the first coming when Bartell, running a similar route down the home sideline, worked back toward the ball and overcame a defender’s inside leverage by outjumping him and then plucking the ball off of the opponent’s chest, as if snatching a wallet poking out of a shirt pocket.

These were instances when the Monarchs executed on a high-wire level, and there were a handful of spectacular near-misses, too.

On the same second-quarter series: a screen pass over the middle, from Huhta to Mullen, which trickled off of his fingertips, with the entire MM offensive line out in front and nary a Chieftain in sight; and Peck’s perfectly designed – and timed, as a play call – decision to run a halfback pass by Mullen, whose textbook spiral was just a whisper long for Danniel Kobayashi-Gallagher, outstretched at the goal line, with Mt. Solo the nearest defender. Bartell nearly hauled in what could have become a 65-yard touchdown pass on MM’s final drive of the first quarter, breaking open over the middle on a post route before nearly corralling a well-placed lob from Huhta.

Squinting, one could glimpse what MM’s offense can become, but on this night, it was the simple, the fundamental, the basic, the brutal, which prevailed.

“We got Kenny Mullen going. He’s one of those guys, the more he touches the ball, the better he gets. We tried to control the ball as much as possible,” said Peck. “(Mullen) did a really good job of staying patient and making his jump-cuts. Our O-line really took control of the line of scrimmage in the second half. They stepped up big time.”

The Monarchs’ safety came when a high snap after CR had lined up to punt resulted in a tackle in the end zone and a 2-0 lead with seven minutes gone in the opening period. Kobayashi’s interception in the end zone one series later denied the Chieftains on their deepest drive of the game into MM territory, following a lost fumble by the Monarchs.

Columbia River missed a 27-yard field goal attempt with 28 seconds left in the half, and would not cross the MM 33 for the remainder of the game. Kobayashi had one sack, and Kevin Hernandez Ruiz, Anakin Isenhart and Mason Henderson had a half-sack apiece. Bartell, Axton Flemens and Bradlee Lewis each had a tackle for loss.

“Shout out to our defensive staff,” Peck said. “They put together an incredible defensive game plan, and the kids played like they were prepared.”

Mark Morris (1-2, 1-0 league) will continue 2a GSHl play at Washougal next Friday at 7 p.m.