Great effort guys, your effort and determination to not give up is an inspiration to all of us!! Go get 'em next week!
Morrisville comes up just short in shootout with Lower Moreland
By: KAREN SANGILLO
Bucks County Courier Times
The Bulldogs lost, but demonstrated how improved they are.
MORRISVILLE - The Morrisville football team proved one thing on Friday night.
The Dawgs are for real.
Going into the game sporting a 3-0 record, the team faced its first true test of the season in defending Bicentennial Athletic League champion Lower Moreland.
Morrisville was handed its first loss of the year, 33-26, at Robert Morris Field.
Last year, Morrisville fell to the Lions by a 33-6 score en route to a 2-9 season.
"This is the toughest we've ever played Lower Moreland," Morrisville coach Jim Gober said. "It shows how far we've come over the last year.
"We're pleased with the effort but disappointed with the result."
After spotting Lower Moreland (2-2) a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, Morrisville got on the board when Matt Cookson hit Julian Walker with a 21-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-7.
The Lions went up, 20-7, in the second quarter, but Morrisville came back again with Mike Jones catching a 26-yard pass from Cookson to make it 20-13 at the half.
Morrisville recovered a Lower Moreland fumble on the first play from scrimmage in the second half. The Bulldogs capitalized when Ruben Bresnen caught a 32-yard toss from Cookson, and Brandon Douglass made the extra point to tie the game, 20-20, 29 seconds into the half.
It was as close as the Bulldogs would get.
Lower Moreland scored a touchdown just 12 seconds later on an 82-yard run by John Founds and, just like that, the Lions had the lead again.
Bresnen contributed another touchdown for Morrisville on a 2-yard run in the third quarter, but the extra point attempt was blocked, so the score was 27-26 Lower Moreland.
Lower Moreland found the end zone again in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
"We made too many mistakes," Gober said. "We made some bad decisions and, all week, we thought the key would be for us to stop the run, and we didn't do that effectively enough.
"I told the kids all week that this was a statement game; we'd find out how good or not good we are right here. I think we proved something."
Lower Moreland quarterback Frank Gleason did not complete a pass, going 0-for-3 for the game, but the Lions rushed for 396 yards.
Cookson completed 12 of 27 for 182 yards and threw three interceptions.
"This was disappointing, because I think we should have won," Cookson said. "We made a lot of mistakes.
"But if we fight like we did in this game and we have everyone healthy, we should be good; I honestly think this should be our only loss of the year.
"We definitely weren't hot-headed about being 3-0, because we knew Lower Moreland is good. We knew they were going to run the ball, and sometimes we stopped them, but other times they got big runs and that really hurt us.
Advertisement "We beat ourselves. We just have to work harder in practice next week than we did this week."
Bresnen led Morrisville with 96 yards rushing. He had just one rushing touchdown, but set up Morrisville's first touchdown of the day with three consecutive carries for 25 yards and two key first downs.
"I'm getting more opportunities and I feel that I'm taking advantage of the opportunities I'm getting," said Bresnen, a senior. "I feel that I'm doing a lot more this year and our team is doing a lot more. I'm so proud of the effort we're putting into this season.
"This was our toughest opponent so far this year, and we had them on the ropes a couple of times. It was the simple mistakes that hurt us, but I think we learned from those mistakes and we'll move forward.
"Last year, it took us seven games to get our first win and now we have three. We know we didn't beat the toughest of competition, but, in this game, we hung with a good team."
Next week, the Bulldogs play host to first-year program New Hope-Solebury, which is still seeking its first win (0-4).
"That's an opportunity for us to get our heads back into the game and get a win," Bresnen said.
Karen Sangillo can be reached at karensangillo@verizon.net
