SAN DIEGO HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL : Morse Is Simply Better This Time

SAN DIEGO — John Shacklett, Morse High School’s coach, said it’s just a basic running play.

“It’s just called ‘153-Dive,’ ” Shacklett said. “Nothing fancy at all.”

The play calls for running back Larry Maxey to read the block of his offensive tackle on the strong side and then burst through the hole. If the tackle blocks left, Maxey runs right.

Simple, right?

Simple to run, maybe. But it’s not simple to stop.

Just ask the Lincoln High defense, which was confounded by “153-Dive” for two quarters Friday night as Morse took a 37-0 halftime lead en route to a 40-12 nonleague victory at Mesa College.

Morse’s victory was reminiscent of last year’s meeting between the schools, only this time, the circumstances were reversed. A year ago, Lincoln scored 45 points in the second half for a 51-0 victory.

“I guess I can say that this victory makes up for last year,” said Maxey, the county’s leading rusher, who totaled 217 yards on 22 carries and scored two touchdowns. “We knew we had a better team this year even if the people who make the rankings didn’t think so.”

Morse (3-2) came into the game ranked No. 8, while Lincoln (3-2) came in ranked No. 4.

However, in the first quarter, it soon became evident who had the better squad Friday night.

On its fourth offensive play, Shacklett called “153-Dive,” and Maxey broke through the left side of the Lincoln defensive line. He was through so quickly that the Lincoln secondary never had time to react and Maxey was gone, racing 69 yards for a touchdown.

Four minutes later, Shacklett called for his favorite play again. This time, quarterback Mike Liera faked to Maxey and handed off to fullback Derrick Greene. He broke free and scored from 18 yards out.

Before the quarter was over, Maxey would score on a five-yard run to make it 21-0. In the second quarter, Liera sneaked over from the one and Darrell Lewis scored on a 63-yard end around. A 19-yard field goal by German Puentes made it 37-0 at halftime.

Morse’s running attack was impressive to the tune of 335 first-half rushing yards, while the Morse defense limited Lincoln to just two yards on the ground.

Morse’s defense continually blitzed Lincoln quarterback Freddie Stokes, sacking him four times for 41 yards in losses. The Lincoln offense further stymied itself, committing 10 first-half penalties for 78 yards.

“It was a horrible night,” Stokes said. “Every time I went back to throw, I had people on me. And, if I escaped the rush, it seemed like everybody was covered.”

Lincoln, which had rallied from a 21-0 deficit to beat Sweetwater last week, still had thoughts of rallying in the second half. Stokes threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Joe Temple to make it 37-6 early in the third quarter, but this week, the Hornets had fallen too far behind.

“I was a little worried, still, with the way they played against us in the second half last year,” Shacklett said. “But, we just played too well. Of course, we were thinking about that 51-0 loss, but that alone isn’t responsible for the way we played.”

Indeed, Friday night, Morse was just simply better.