HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL : Result of Another Contender’s Run at No. 1 Team: Morse 57, Kearny 6

Another test of top-ranked Morse’s firepower went up in flames Friday when No. 6 Kearny, playing in front of 3,800 fans at Mesa College, lost to the undefeated and still unchallenged Tigers, 57-6.

Kearny, which entered the game 5-0 and averaging over 30 points a game, proved one thing in this “big game”: it’s a long way between No. 6 and No. 1.

And if there were any question as to just how dominant Morse (6-0) was--the Tigers had been averaging 48 points a game--the answer came after eight minutes and 30 seconds. Three possessions, 11 plays and 22-0, Morse.

The game had just started, but Kearny was physically beaten and emotionally demoralized. This was not expected. Kearny has a oversized line that goes 6-feet-6, 6-6, 6-6, 6-4, 6-4 and one of the county’s most explosive receiver/punt returners in Darnay Scott. But Morse’s line, which features no one taller than 6-3, pushed the Komets all over the place and chased Scott out of the game.

“I thought we put pressure on the quarterback, and we did a good job on Barney Scott or whatever that guy’s name is,” Morse guard/noseguard Salua Poutoa said. “They thought the little guys from Morse couldn’t hit.”

Kearny quarterback Sam Page had Poutoa and others in his face the rest of the game as the Komets tried to play catch-up. He threw 18 passes and completed only one to Scott. Whenever Scott was able to do something, which wasn’t often, something bad followed.

With Kearny trailing, 31-6, early in the third quarter, Scott gained 19 yards on a reverse. On the next play, Page was blind-sided and threw an interception. Scott bolted 35 yards on another reverse, and Page turned the ball again over with a fumble on the next play.

Meanwhile, Kearny could not stop quarterback Teddy Lawrence and Morse’s offense, which poured it on with 26 second-half points. Lawrence put bootlegs, play-action passes, option pitches, counter dives and a monkey wrench into Kearny’s defense.

Lawrence scored on runs of 26 and 28 yards, rushing six times for 87 yards. He fired a 51-yard strike to Cary Taylor for another score. He even fumbled at the line of scrimmage, then scooped up the loose ball as a shortstop would and scampered 18 yards to set up the first score. Kearny could do nothing right. Morse could do no wrong.

“They’re physical, but I don’t think they’ve seen speed on the field like we have,” Morse Coach John Shacklett said. “We don’t have a bad ballclub.”