Normans' Offense Sputters Against Morningside

Perhaps no football team in the Ocean League has been more decimated by injuries this season than Beverly Hills and it was evident Friday night against Morningside at Coleman Stadium in Inglewood.

The Normans were down to their fourth- and fifth-stringers at certain positions and that, coupled with a lack of red zone production, led to their third consecutive defeat, 6-2, in a defensive struggle against a fired-up opponent determined to notch its first league win on homecoming.

"The defense played well, but it's tough to win when you have so many guys out," Normans coach Donald Paysinger said. "Also, the field was in terrible shape because it rained earlier in the day and Inglewood played here [Thursday] night. Neither team could move the ball."

Having lost top wide receivers Broderic Smith and Willie Green earlier in the season, BHHS played Friday night without leading rusher Frank Brown, who suffered a concussion in the the previous week. That left running duties to first-time starters Eddie Hong and Monte Monroe.

Senior quarterback Brandon Adams missed several practices with the flu and took only a few snaps against Morningside, leaving the job to senior Cameron Countryman and junior Chase Crossly. Both offenses looked stuck in the mud and the teams combined for nine punts, but BHHS still had a chance to win the game, driving to the Monarchs' 6-yard line. After Countryman was sacked at the 12-yard line, the Normans thought they had scored when tight end Madison Monroe caught a pass from Crossly and appeared to break the plane of the goal line on fourth down, but officials ruled him down at the 1-yard line, giving the ball back to Morningside.

However, Beverly Hills' defense rose up and wrapped up quarterback Dana Dodson in the end zone for a safety that trimmed the Normans' deficit to four points with 2:03 left. After Morningside punted the ball back, BHHS tried a reverse on its first play but the ball was fumbled and recovered by defensive lineman Trayvion Carter, who returned it to the Normans' 12-yard line. From there, Morningside proceeded to run out the clock.

"I'm almost positive it was a touchdown," Monroe said of his "almost" game-tying catch. "The ball was across the goal line and my knee wasn't down. They took it away, but that's the way the game goes."

Beverly Hills had penetrated the 10-yard line in the third quarter as well, but a wobbly pass was intercepted by Kenny Willis, who returned it to the Monarchs' 42-yard line.

Morningside's only score came one play after a turnover. Countryman was hit and fumbled as he was cocking his arm to throw a pass and Carter recovered at the Morningside 34-yard line. On a quick count, senior Chad Conner raced 66 yards on a quarterback draw to give the home team a 6-0 lead. The snap was bad on the extra point attempt and the kick was blocked.

"It was just your basic run up the middle, the coaches told me it would be open and it was," Conner said. "This was real big. Everyone came out for our homecoming and you always want to win that game. Defensively, we just had to stop No. 1 [Countryman]. He was their big-play guy."

Countryman was held to 31 yards in nine carries and completed three of seven passes for 19 yards. Conner had 89 yards in 12 carries and Dotson gained 74 yards in 12 carries for Morningside, which closes the season with its annual grudge game against Inglewood next Thursday.

Beverly Hills hosts Culver City at Nickoll Field next Thursday night. The Centaurs lost to Santa Monica 17-14 Friday night. Santa Monica can clinch the league title outright with a victory over Hawthorne.

"We have too many injuries and it's hard to execute the way you want to when you have eight or nine starters missing," Paysinger said. "We didn't have one of our best linemen [Julian Jackson], who got injured last week. So we came in short-handed and it showed."

Records: Beverly Hills 2-7, 1-3; Morningside 4-5, 1-3.

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