By Tom Behrens
Morton Ranch defeated Dobie 36-17 Friday night in the season opener for both teams.
Morton Ranch played Dobie last year and lost 24-12. A junior Dobie returning linebacker, Chris Morris, was a second team All-District last year. “I told our players that Dobie has 4,000 students, and when you have that many students, you’ve got to have some players,” said Morton Ranch Coach Ron Counter.
Preseason picks had the Longhorns third in their district behind Deer Park and LaPorte.
“Looking at the game last year and the athletes they had, we knew it was going to be a challenge,” Counter said.
The Mavericks started strong, putting up 13 unanswered points in the first quarter. Deonte Bradford took the opening kickoff downfield to Dobie’s 40-yard line. Eight plays later, at 9:15, Dallas Ross scored from one yard out. The point after attempt failed. At 1:46, Ross scored again from eight yards out. This time David Dominguez’s kick make it through the uprights.
The Mavericks scored two more times in the second quarter. Josh Bennett started the scoring with a three-yard run in the opening seconds, with 11:33 left. Dominguez’s extra point kick was good. Dominguez kicked a 33-yard field goal with 5:24 left to give Morton Ranch a 23-0 lead.
The Dobie offense put together a flurry of scoring with 0:38 left. Kris Morris scored from two yards out. Joshua Hernandez kicked the extra point. With no time left, Hernandez made a 24-yard field goal to make the score 23-10.
“We had to regroup at halftime,” Counter said. The Mavericks’ Derick Mourning read a Dobie screen pass perfectly, intercepting, and with nobody in front of him raced down the field for a 35-yard touchdown at 8:26 in the third quarter. Trying to make up for the missed PAT in the first quarter,
Morton Ranch chose to go for a two-point conversion, but failed to make it.
With 0:28 left in the third quarter, Dobie’s Kris Morris broke loose for a 55-yard run. Hernandez kick was good and the Longhorns narrowed the score to 29-17, but that would be their last score.
Morton Ranch finished out the scoring when Jaelon Moorehead, a sophomore running back, scored from three yards out with 5:09 left in the game.
For Morton Ranch, Bennett had 23 carries for 101 yards and one touchdown. Ross had 18 carries for 61 yards and two touchdowns. Moorehead had three carries for nine yards.
In the air, Ross completed 8 of 11 passes for 59 yards. Leading receivers were Josh Gaton, with three catches for 31 yards, and Anthony Baker, with three catches for 28 yards.
“We mixed in some short passes but we didn’t throw the ball down the field a lot, mostly small or shorter routes, what they were giving us,” Counter said. “We took a couple (long pass) shots. We really didn’t throw it that much because our running game was working pretty well.”
Morton Ranch finished with 171 yards on the ground and 15 first downs.
“We really should have scored more points than we did,” Counter said. “We had the ball on their 20- and 30-yard lines a couple of times and didn’t get points.
“Overall, we played really well, offense and defense, special teams too, but there are always things to correct, to get better.”
The Longhorns didn’t help their cause, contributing 12 penalties for 97 yards, plus a couple of lost fumbles.
“I thought Dallas Ross, our quarterback, ran the offense well; the offensive line had a good night, just really happy with both sides of the ball,” Counter said. “The offensive and defensive lines controlled the line of scrimmage. We did have some missed tackles on defense that we have to work on, clean that up. There are always some things you have to work on to get better, a lot of work still to do.
“I felt like we came out of the locker room at the beginning of the game with a lot of energy. It’s always better to start 1-0 than 0-1.”
Morton Ranch will play Aldine Nimitz in its next game. The Cougars lost their opener to Mayde Creek. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Rhodes Stadium.