Jaxson Morris’ goal-line hit preserves Evergreen’s 20-14 win over Mountain View

There didn’t appear to be anything between Jacob Martin and a game-winning touchdown for Mountain View on Friday night.

Then out of nowhere, Evergreen senior Jaxson Morris came racing in at the 1-yard line with a hit so hard it dislodged the ball, preserving Evergreen’s 20-14 win over the Thunder at McKenzie Stadium.

“I just saw everybody pulling and I thought ‘hey, it’s gotta be a screen,’ ” Morris said. “I just went in there. I knew I had to make a play, so I went in there and made a play.”

Mountain View was driving inside the final minute when the Thunder found themselves with a third-and-3 at the Plainsmen 8 with 28 seconds to go.

Martin caught a screen pass at the 6 and was heading for the goal line before Morris’ hit caused the fumble that Mark Williams Jr. fell on to clinch the win with 23 seconds left.

“I just think it speaks to the resiliency of our players,” Evergreen coach Christian Swain said. “And my assistant coaches are incredible. Both coordinators, Dara Donalde and Daniel Segar, have just been incredible with the level of preparation they’ve put in this season.”

It was the defensive play on a night of defensive plays for the Plainsmen.

After Mountain View rallied to take a 14-13 into halftime, the Plainsmen kept the Thunder off the scoreboard in the second half.

“Our defense, our main goal is don’t let anyone score,” Evergreen senior lineman Koby Kast said. “Obviously they got a couple of slip-ups, but we just had to lock in and keep ourselves in the game.”

Arthur Ban’s 41-yard touchdown reception from Khalil Osbin with 8:30 in the third quarter proved to be the difference.

Williams had an interception in the first half, Kast had a tackle of Mountain View’s Mitch Johnson on fourth down to half a Thunder drive at the Evergreen 24 in the third quarter, and Cole Cuypers’ interception at the Evergreen 16 stopped another Mountain View drive in the fourth quarter.

From their, the Plainsmen offensive line, led by Kast and Fox Crader, went to work as Evergreen’s ran off yards and clock, going 66 yards on 13 plays over five minutes before a missed field goal with 1:48 to play.

“We were just kind of making sure we were keeping our foot on the gas,” Kast said. “We kept doing us. I don’t think any team out here can beat us. It’s just us vs. us at this point.”

Mountain View did its best to beat Evergreen, driving from its own 20 before falling one-yard shy of the end zone.

The win improved Evergreen to 5-0 and 1-0 in the 3A Greater St. Helens League heading into a non-league battle with Camas next week before resuming league play.

“It’s just as stepping stone,” Morris said. “We have the rest of our season. This isn’t going to be the highlight of our season. We’re going to keep building our team. We’re still not at our full potential, so we got to keep going.”

But it was still a special night for the Plainsmen.

“It feels great,” Kast said. “All of that hard work paying off. I love my brothers, man.”

EVERGREEN 20, MOUNTAIN VIEW 14

Evergreen 13 0 7 0—20

Mt. View 0 14 0 0—14

First quarter

E — Jayden Crace 2 run (run failed)

E — Jonathan Landry 71 pass from Crace (Cristian Chavarria kick))

Second quarter

MV — Jacob Martin 23 pass from Mitch Johnson (Owen Purvis kick)

MV — Kedyn Bolds 3 run (Purvis kick)

Third quarter

E — Arthur Ban 41 pass from Khalil Osbin (Gavin Herbert kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Evergreen: Shaudez Grant 6-44, Mark Williams 11-29, LaDaimien McCord 5-20, Jonathan Landry 4-1, Jayden Crace 8-7, Khalil Osbin 1-(-5). Mountain View: Mitch Johnson 17-66, Porter Drake 11-38, Kedyn Bolds 5-12, JJ Thompson 2-8.

PASSING — Evergreen: Jayden Crace 5-10-0-124, Khalil Osbin 2-3-0-44. Mountain View: Mitch Johnson 17-26-2-156.

RECEIVING — Evergreen: Jonathan Landry 3-108, LaDaimien McCord 1-4, Arthur Ban 2-44, Anthony Lamberth 1-12. Mountain View: Jacob Martin 7-79, Kyle Chen 4-44, Porter Drake 3-23, Akili Kamau 2-3, JJ Thompson 1-6.