Morse Stays Unbeaten by Pasting Monte Vista

CHULA VISTA — With about 12 minutes remaining in Monte Vista’s 1992 football season, Morse lineman David Gates scurried the Tiger sideline trying to round up an audience that would listen to him talk about the first touchdown of his life.

Ten minutes later, Morse had to burn a timeout in a fourth-and-17 situation because Gates was still talking when he should have been on the field for the attempted punt.

Sophomores . . . including Gates, Morse uses six of them in its starting lineup and is still the only undefeated team in the county, having whipped Monte Vista, 48-0, Friday in a San Diego Section 3-A quarterfinal game in front of 4,000 at Southwestern College’s Devore Stadium.

And it didn’t even seem that close.

“Nice game,” Monte Vista Coach Ed Carberry told Morse Coach John Shacklett afterward. “We only allowed 100 points all year. I thought you were going to get 100 tonight.”

Said Shacklett: “It worked out the way it was supposed to, I guess. What more can I say? I was very pleased. The offensive line played well. The backs played well. The defense played well.”

And so it’s on to the next round for the Tigers, who will meet the winner of tonight’s Rancho Buena Vista-Orange Glen game in the semifinals Dec. 5 at a neutral site to be determined.

Monte Vista, the runner-up in the Grossmont 3-A League that won its first playoff game in 17 years last week, finished 7-5.

Combined with last week’s rout of Grossmont, Morse (12-0) has outscored two East County teams in the playoffs 89-16.

Morse’s two 1,000-yard rushers--fullback Conan Smith and tailback Archie Amerson--had little trouble finding room to run behind what is arguably the best--and youngest--offensive line in the county. Smith rushed for 126 yards and one touchdown in 10 carries, and Amerson added 95 yards and three touchdowns in 14 carries.

And with quarterback Ray Barnes completing all three of his attempts for 60 yards and one touchdown, Morse racked up 320 total yards.

“Give the line all the credit,” Smith said. “They played great.”

Morse’s defense was equally impressive, limiting Monte Vista to 20 yards rushing and 55 passing. The Tigers also forced and recovered four fumbles.

Gates’ first career touchdown came on one of those fumble recoveries and gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead 4:36 into the game. It was easy, really. After Damion Patrick forced the fumble in the Monarch’s end zone, Gates dropped his 250-pound frame on the ball, and watched as the referee signaled touchdown.

“That was my first one, ever, ever ,” Gates said. “I felt wonderful.”

In addition to Gates, Elizio Borden, Randall Speir and Amerson also recovered fumbles and Rashard Cook returned an interception 30 yards for the game’s final touchdown.

Rickey Berrian, the first 1,000-yard rusher in Monte Vista history, gained 42 yards in 18 carries, but he paid for every yard. Quarterback John Acosta was five for 24 passing with one interception.

With the victory, Morse has won 12 games in a row, dating back to last season’s 17-10 loss to 3-A runner-up Vista in the quarterfinals. Before that, Morse had played in the last four section championship games, winning in 1990 and ’88 over Orange Glen. The Tigers lost to RBV in the 1989 championship and to Point Loma in the ’88 title game.

Can anyone stop them this year?

“I don’t think so,” Smith said, adding he doesn’t care who the Tigers play next week. “Whoever comes, we’ll play them.”