Metamora beats Morton football

The Metamora football team continued to put its opponents in a "catch-22" situation Friday night.

Dekota Doerr, kept carrying the ball, and the Morton defenders couldn't catch him.

Doerr ran for 162 yards and two touchdowns to lead Metamora past the Potters, 45-3, in a Mid-Illini contest at Carper Field. It was the Redbirds' fifth consecutive victory.

Doerr got most of his yards in the first period, rushing for 124 yards and scoring on runs of 26 and 47 yards.

And when the Potters did manage to slow Doerr down, teammate Gage Patton took over the big-play duties. He ran for 116 yards on six carries, escaping for scoring runs of 76 and 30 yards.

Metamora (5-2, 5-0) netted 449 rushing yards, mostly behind the right side of the line: Center Jimmy Beaver, guard Dallas Garrison and tackle Ryan Feldmann.

"We did a good job up front," Redbirds coach Pat Ryan said. "I know Morton's been a little down defensively, but it was important for us to get off to a good start."

Morton led 20-3 after the first period, and took a 32-3 lead at the break. Metamora kept the Potters out of the end zone, holding them to just a 34-yard Connor Kindred field goal.

Junior Alex Giesler keyed Metamora on defense with two fumble recoveries and a blocked punt.

"Our guys played hard all night," Morton coach Jason Thiry said. "We had a little bit of a letdown there at the end of the first half.

"But we came out in the second half and continued to hit."

Metamora back Ryan Patterson completed the scoring with two scoring runs after halftime. His 13-yard TD with 9:07 left in the fourth, which capped a 99-yard drive, gave the Redbirds a 45-3 lead and started the running clock.