3-A HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS : Morse Takes Control Early, Cruises to Victory Over San Dieguito

CHULA VISTA —  San Dieguito knew it would have to contend with the speediest team it faced all season when the Mustangs met Morse in a section 3-A quarterfinal game at Southwestern College Saturday night.

But the Mustangs could never have predicted how quickly Morse would put the game away.

Before San Dieguito (8-4) had taken a snap, Morse led, 14-0, only 2:47 into the game.

The Tigers (10-2) went on to win their seventh in a row with a 42-21 victory. Morse will play Eastern League rival Mira Mesa in a semifinal game Saturday at a site to be determined. Morse defeated Mira Mesa, 21-17, earlier this season.

Morse established a solid running game during the season but it was the passing of quarterback Teddy Lawrence that put the Tigers into the semifinals.

“I didn’t think we’d pass that much,” said Lawrence, a junior. “But our running game wasn’t working that well. I wasn’t that confident in my passing at the beginning of the season.”

It didn’t show Saturday as Lawrence was seven of 12 for 236 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for an eight-yard touchdown.

By the early seconds of the second quarter the game appeared to be over.

David Dunn, who took a pass in the flat and turned it into a 73-yard touchdown on the second play of the game, recovered a fumble at the Morse eight-yard line that led to the Tigers’ third touchdown of the half.

Lawrence hit Dunn on the left side and Dunn spun around a defender, turned the corner and was gone to put Morse ahead 7-0.

On the ensuing kickoff, Mike Henry fumbled at the 21 and Paul Ah-You recovered. Three plays later, Jessie Campbell ran through a hole opened by Jeffrey Harris for eight yards. Morse led, 14-0, and the clock showed 9:13.

San Dieguito settled down and put together a drive. But running back Jessie Davis fumbled and Dunn recovered.

Lawrence capped a nine-play drive following the fumble with a 37-yard touchdown pass to Glen Steele, putting Morse ahead, 21-0.

San Dieguito hung on to its next possession and scored after a four-minute, nine-play drive with Davis running the final three yards.

But Morse quickly responded.

Ututofo Faime took the kickoff on the 18 raced 82 yards for a touchdown. The extra point gave Morse a 28-7 halftime lead.

San Dieguito again tried to get back in the game in the second half, scoring on its first two possessions. But Morse held the Mustangs off, scoring on a 48-yard pass from Lawrence to Steele and an eight-yard run by Lawrence late in the fourth quarter.

Rancho Buena Vista 48, Southwest 21--Markeith Ross and O.J. Hall, Rancho Buena Vista’s star running backs, led the Longhorns in a 3-A quarterfinal at Vista.

Ross, the county’s second-leading rusher, had 182 yards on 16 carries, including touchdowns of 56 and 26 yards. Hall, the county’s all-time leading rusher, added 108 on 25 carries, including touchdowns of 32 and one yards.

RBV (9-3) advanced to Friday’s semifinal against Point Loma, the only team to defeat the Longhorns on the field in 27 games dating back to 1987. (RBV had to forfeit two victories earlier this season.)

Southwest, which entered as the No. 1 scoring defense in the 3-A, had allowed just 102 points in 11 games this season. The Raiders finished 7-4-1.

After RBV took a 35-14 third-quarter lead, Dion Walker’s second touchdown catch from Andy Quinn (10 of 29, 188 yards) put Southwest within striking distance at 35-21. Walker finished with seven catches for 165 yards.

Then, with Southwest driving again on its next possession, Mark Palatto, a sophomore called up to the varsity for the playoffs, intercepted Quinn’s pass and returned it 30 yards for the touchdown.

RBV quarterback David Roberts (two of four passing for 54 yards) scored on a 26-yard run to end the scoring. RBV had Southwest 440 total yards to Southwest’s 209.