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Ridgefield's Sam Clark and Jahlil Lavine take down Mark Morris' Deacon Dietz at Longview Memorial Stadium on Friday, October 7, in Longview.
Mark Morris' Zack Ziegler drags Ridgefield's Rocco Wright at Longview Memorial Stadium on Friday, October 7, in Longview.
Mark Morris' DeShaun David and Justus McCann block Ridgefield's Rocco Wright at Longview Memorial Stadium on Friday, October 7, in Longview.
Mark Morris' Kellen Desbiens punts the ball during a game against Ridgefield at Longview Memorial Stadium on Friday, October 7, in Longview.
Mark Morris High School takes on Ridgefield at Longview Memorial Stadium on Friday, October 7, in Longview.
Mark Morris cheer on the monarchs during a game against Ridgefield at Longview Memorial Stadium on Friday, October 7, in Longview.
The Mark Morris marching band plays a "Phantom of the Opera" themed half-time show at Longview Memorial Stadium on Friday, October 7, in Longview.
Facing a fourth-and-12 from the Ridgefield 41 and holding a precarious 6-0 lead with 12 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Mark Morris head coach Shawn Perkins decided to gamble. He called for a halfback pass, a play the team had yet to run in a game.
Running back Kobe Parlin took the pitch from his quarterback Kellen Desbiens, rolled left, had time and connected with 6-foot-2 senior receiver Langston Bartell down the near sideline for a 41-yard touchdown with four seconds left in the frame. The score (and subsequent two-point conversion) put Mark Morris ahead 14-0 over Ridgefield, en route to a 20-7 win over their 2A Greater St. Helens League rival.
“Tonight, we rolled the dice a lot and it paid off,” Perkins said.
The two teams came in with identical 2-1 records in GSHL play, a game behind Washougal for first in the standings. With the win, the Monarchs moved into sole possession of second, one game behind 4-0 Washougal.
“That’s one of the biggest wins we’ve had in a long time,” Perkins said. “It was great to see the kids step up when they needed to. It was a total team effort… It was awesome to see.”
Parlin was, without a doubt, the player of the game for the Monarchs. In addition to the touchdown pass on that fourth down play, Parlin had two interceptions off Ridgefield quarterback Logan DeBeaumont while covering senior receiver Isaiah Cowley, Ridgefield’s most dynamic player.
Looking back on the play that keyed the Monarchs' victory, Parlin said he had plenty time to throw and spotted Bartell running free beneath the bright stadium lights.
“We installed that (play) our second week and we’ve been waiting for the perfect time to run it," Parlin said. "I had a lot of time to throw it, he was open so I made him go get it."
The Monarchs' battle tested coach came away notably impressed with Parlin's play in a high stakes contest. But it wasn't the touchdown pass that stuck out so much as the defensive snares.
“He had a great game,” Perkins said of his senior two-way athlete. “He got beat down there in the first half, then he just took the ball away from the kid.”
Parlin's favorite receiver, Bartell, finished with two receptions on the game. Both of those catches went for touchdowns, and he picked up 55 yards in all to lead the Monarchs.
Quarterback Kellen Desbiens wasn’t called on to throw often, but when he did, he found the mark. The senior finished 5-for-7 passing for 45 yards and two touchdowns.
Mark Morris receiver Cade Warren opened the scoring as the second quarter got underway on an 11-yard pass from Desbiens. The point-after attempt was blocked so Mark Morris settled for a 6-0 lead.
That slim lead held for three full quarters as the Monarchs defense stifled the Ridgefield offense on five consecutive possessions.
The Spudders went 1-for-4 on fourth down in the contest, threw a second quarter interception and had a punt blocked in the third quarter. The element that hurt the Spudders the most however, was dropped passes. DeBeaumont put the ball on the hands of his receivers over and over, only to see the ball fall incomplete at least a half dozen times.
“Yeah, we’ve got to secure the ball better,” said Ridgefield head coach Scott Rice. “I think we’re going to watch the film and we’re going to see that we didn’t execute like we should have. I think our defense did a great job holding them to 20 points and putting us in a position where we just have to do better on offense.”
After Parlin’s halfback pass touchdown put MM up 14-0, Ridgefield came out throwing only to see Parlin undercut the deep post route to intercept his second pass of the game. That pick set Desbiens and the Monarchs up with terrific field position on the Spudders 35-yard line in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter.
Desbiens would find Bartell in the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown to stretch the Monarchs lead to 20-0 with 10:06 to play. Ridgefield responded on their next series with a nine-play, 77-yard scoring drive capped by the DeBeaumont to Cowley 30-yard connection that cut the Monarchs’ lead to 20-7 with 6:11 left in the contest.
Cowley finished with six receptions for 110 yards and the lone Spudders touchdown on the pass from DeBeaumont in the fourth quarter.
DeBeaumont finished the game 13-for-28 passing for 168 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Junior tailback Rocco Wright paced the Spudders offense with 21 carries for 135 yards.
On defense, the Monarchs saw some key plays made by linebacker Wesley Platt (had a late sack of DeBeaumont) and Dossen Morrow who blocked a punt and had several big tackles.
Mark Morris (5-1, 3-1 league) returns to the field at Hockinson (2-4, 1-3 league) next Friday at 7 p.m.
MM – Kellen Desbiens 11-yard pass to Cade Warren; Desbiens kick blocked
MM – Kobe Parlin 41-yard pass to Langston Bartell; Two-point conversion
MM – Desbiens 14-yard pass to Bartell; Desbiens kick blocked
R – Logan DeBeaumont 30-yard pass to Isaiah Cowley; Brandon Rogers kick
First Downs N/A N/A
Comp-Att-Int 13-28-2 6-8-0
Rushing: R – Rocco Wright 21/135, Cly Stephens 4/4; MM – Justus McCann 14/39, Deacon Dietz 6/67, Parlin 5/8, Rylan Jewell 5/34, Desbiens 6/-11
Passing: R – DeBeaumont 13-28/168; MM – Desbiens 5-7/45, Parlin 1-1/41
Receiving: R – Cowley 6/110, Brayden Malella 2/20, Cash Hill 3/15, Noah Stromberg 1/14, Jahlil Lavine 1/9; MM – Bartell 2/55, Parlin 3/20, Morrow 1/11
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Ridgefield's Sam Clark and Jahlil Lavine take down Mark Morris' Deacon Dietz at Longview Memorial Stadium on Friday, October 7, in Longview.
Mark Morris' Zack Ziegler drags Ridgefield's Rocco Wright at Longview Memorial Stadium on Friday, October 7, in Longview.
Mark Morris' DeShaun David and Justus McCann block Ridgefield's Rocco Wright at Longview Memorial Stadium on Friday, October 7, in Longview.
Mark Morris' Kellen Desbiens punts the ball during a game against Ridgefield at Longview Memorial Stadium on Friday, October 7, in Longview.
Mark Morris High School takes on Ridgefield at Longview Memorial Stadium on Friday, October 7, in Longview.
Mark Morris cheer on the monarchs during a game against Ridgefield at Longview Memorial Stadium on Friday, October 7, in Longview.
The Mark Morris marching band plays a "Phantom of the Opera" themed half-time show at Longview Memorial Stadium on Friday, October 7, in Longview.
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