KENNEWICK — A season — and an era — ended at Lampson Stadium here Friday. It was a slow bleed for Mark Morris. But the most fatal cuts in what became a 28-7, Class 2A state quarterfinal loss for the Monarchs were administered early, with surgical precision and lightning quickness by Ellensburg’s stiletto-wielding senior quarterback.

Ethan Sterkel threw a pair of touchdown passes during a 10-second span late in the first quarter, putting Mark Morris in a 14-0 hole from which it never recovered.

The top-ranked Bulldogs (12-0) advanced to the semifinals against Othello or West Valley (Spokane).

And a three-year, 27-win ride propelled by 23 seniors who revolutionized the MM football program came to an end on a frigid night where the ball took Bulldog bounces — and Sterkel was more elusive than an eel dipped in motor oil.

“Our seniors worked hard until the end,” said Monarchs coach Shawn Perkins. “They put in so much hard work. It hurts when you come up here and you know you still have a little gas in the tank. You’d like to keep on going. But we had a great team and a great season. This is the classiest group of kids I ever coached. You never had to worry about them, on or off the field. They will become great men.”

Sterkel completed 13-of-20 passes for three touchdowns and also rushed for 84 yards. His first punches were his best. After connecting with his cousin, junior Kramer Ferrell, on a 12-yard touchdown pass with 5:12 left in the first quarter, Sterkel found himself with the ball seconds later, when Mark Morris fumbled away the ensuing kickoff.

Sterkel’s next pass was a soft dump-off to tight end Blaze Affholter in the flat. Affholter broke a pair of tackles and romped into the end zone for a 25-yard score and a 14-0 lead.

“When the momentum goes one way like that, it is tough to get it back,” said Monarchs senior Jake Welch, a four-year starter on both sides of the line. “It felt like we were battling back the whole game.”

And battle Mark Morris did. But it wasn’t just Sterkel and a charged-up Ellensburg defense that the Monarchs were fighting. It wasn’t just the incrementalism and slow-burn intrinsic to the Wing-T offense, or the early penalties that put MM in passing downs.

“We didn’t get the bounces,” Welch said.

Ellensburg recovered two of its own fumbles in the second quarter, none more fortuitous than the one Sterkel coughed up mid-gallop on what would become the longest offensive play of the game. Sterkel had bolted from the pocket — a familiar, nauseating sight for MM partisans on Friday — and was near the 50 when he was hit and lost the ball.

It skipped along the turf like a punch-drunk bullfrog and settled neatly in the hands of teammate Adam Haberman, who took it 28 more yards to the Monarchs’ 22.

The play covered 61 yards.

Nothing came of the drive, and the first half ended with the Bulldogs leading 14-0. But the play was emblematic of the game.

“We dug ourselves an early hole,” said Perkins. “To survive in this tournament, you need a few breaks and we couldn’t buy one tonight.”

Two touchdowns would have been enough, but Ellensburg added a third score with an emphatic drive to open the second half. Sterkel slipped a blitzing linebacker and picked up 5 yards to start the march. Then he found Ferrell (nine catches, 121 yards) for a 10-yard gain, rumbled 27 yards on a draw, hooked up with wide receiver John Ellersick on an 11-yard dart, and capped the drive by firing a 9-yard laser to Ferrell, streaking across the back of the end zone.

Mark Morris finally got on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter, as senior quarterback Scott Kirkpatrick scored on a 2-yard bootleg to make it 21-7 with 11:54 left in the game. That drive featured Mark Morris’ best play of the night, a 38-yard halfback pass from Jeremy Wolf to Cody Molner that moved the Monarchs inside the Bulldogs’ 10.

Owen Baird recovered his own onside kick to give MM the ball back immediately. But that momentum vanished like a whisper in the Arctic breeze that combed the Tri-Cities on Friday. On third-and-7 from the Ellensburg 37, Kirkpatrick was intercepted by linebacker Bobby Riddle, who sprinted 65 yards for a back-breaking touchdown.

Mark Morris kept battling, of course. With Wolf at quarterback, Wildcat-style, the Monarchs bulled 57 yards in six plays to set up third-and-2 at the Ellensburg 6.

But Wolf’s pass attempt on that down went through two sets of hands — one Monarch, one Bulldog — before Ellensburg linebacker Tyler Morris grabbed it for an interception and touchback in the end zone.

That was the second MM turnover at the goal-line. The first came in the second quarter, when it was still 14-0. Ellensburg had handed the Monarchs excellent field position by snapping the ball over Sterkel’s head in punt formation, and senior fullback Braydon Poole’s hard inside running had helped MM move inside the Bulldogs’ 5.

But on third-and-goal, Poole slammed through several tackles and was near the goal-line when he was stopped by the pile. As he twisted forward and stretched the nose of the ball toward the stripe, it was knocked loose.

Ellensburg recovered the fumble in the end zone.

Poole (25 yards) was one of seven MM ballcarriers who contributed to a 232-yard team rushing performance. Wolf led the way with 100 yards on 15 carries, and fellow junior Dan Feeney added 52 yards on 11 touches.

Dalton Thacker had an interception and recovered two fumbles, and Welch and Taylor Beck each had a sack.

“When I was younger and I watched this team play, I never pictured a Mark Morris team having so much heart,” Welch said. “We played our hearts out tonight.”

Bulldogs 28, Monarchs 7

Mark Morris     0      0      0     7 — 7

Ellensburg      14      0      7     7 — 28

Ell — Kramer Ferrell 12 pass from Ethan Sterkel (Sterkel kick)

Ell — Blaze Affholter 25 pass from Sterkel (Sterkel kick)

Ell — Ferrell 9 pass from Sterkel (Sterkel kick)

MM — Scott Kirkpatrick 2 run (Owen Baird kick)

Ell — Bobby Riddle 65 interception return (Sterkel kick)