Kolten Gesser throws six touchdown passes as Seton Catholic routs Mark Morris 46-6

LONGVIEW —Kolten Gesser put the Mark Morris defense on its heels Friday night and the rest of the Cougars made sure to tip the Monarchs the rest of the way over in a 46-6 non-league prep football victory at Longview Memorial Stadium.

Gesser threw six touchdown passes in the contest, connecting on 13 of his 17 attempts for 258 yards. He was not intercepted, and he was more or less unbothered all night as he sat in the pocket and picked the host defense to pieces.

But ask Seton Catholic head coach Dan Chase who the star of the show was and he’s got another answer — the offensive line.

“It all starts with the O-line,” Chase said. “I mean, look at how much time our quarterback had to throw.”

Just about the only thing that went awry for the Cougars on the night was a bad shotgun snap on their first play from scrimmage. That play put Seton Catholic back 15 yards from the get go, but their next 17 plays before the intermission went for 317 yards and 34 points.

Gesser’s favorite target on the night was Joe Callerame, who caught four catches for 131 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Teddy Wieczorek added four catches for 62 yards and two touchdowns, while Ryker Rules pulled down three passes for 49 yards and a touchdown. Xavier Crank and Ryker Rules also pulled down touchdown catches of 7 and 11 yards, respectively.

And all of that served to set up running back Jacob Williams for success. Not that the 220 pound, 5-foot 11-inch bowling ball of a tailback needs much help, but with the Monarchs in pass protect mode the Cougars senior bruiser was able to churn up turf at will. By the end, Williams had run for 146 yards and a touchdown on just a dozen carries.

Again, Chase was sure to hand out the credit to the big boys up front.

“We had Austin St. Amour at center tonight, we’ve got Ja’Marcus (Robinson) at guard, we’ve got Alex Dayoob at tackle, we’ve got Houston Wells in there a lot, and AJ Bradshaw as our only senior on the line right now, and we’ve got Jessan Tillie,” Chase said. “There’s six fo them that work in there and they’re all doing a great job. and the other blessing is that we’ve only got a few guys who go both ways. It’s really nice to have that.”

But they linemen don’t score the points, even if they do the dirty work to set them up.

As for Williams, his most impressive run saw him cut to the sideline before stiff-arming a defender and cutting back to the middle. That juke caused a pair of Monarchs to collide at full speed and allowed Williams to saunter untouched into the end zone.

“He runs like the rest of our team takes the field,” Chase said. “With our O-line doing what they’re doing, he does a great job with his vision but it’s all about the O-line. Every time he runs hard, he’s doing it for those guys who block for him.”

On the other side of the line of scrimmage Crank and Roman Tabile helped to charge the Seton Catholic defense by pulling down interceptions against a Mark Morris team that’s still learning the tangible dangers of throwing the ball frequently. The Monarchs were held to just 190 total offensive yards on 50 plays.

Mark Morris’ only score of the night came early in the second quarter when Carter Huhta and Decker Bartell connected through the air in rapid succession. The first pass from Huhta to Bartell went for 36 yards, while the second picked up 10 more yards and a touchdown.

After a pair of lopsided losses to start his tenure at Mark Morris, head coach Mike Peck had far more positives to say about the Monarchs’ opponents than he negatives to pin on his own players.

“Kelso and Seton Catholic are both very good teams and Seton Catholic is going to go play for a State title,” Peck said. “As Dennis Green once said, ‘They are who we thought they were.’”

Mark Morris (0-2) will begin 2A Greater St. Helens League play next Friday at 7 p.m. with a home game against Columbia River.

Seton Catholic (2-0) will begin 1A Trico League play next Friday when it travels to Castle Rock for a 7 p.m. kickoff with the Rockets.