For those Kelso football fans still wondering, Pat Hymes’ heart is just fine. There he was, a man who was diagnosed with heart problems earlier this year, standing on the sideline in a light rain.

His Hilanders still trailed Mark Morris by one point with 27 seconds remaining after senior quarterback Cameron Margaris scampered 6 yards for a touchdown to send the Kelso faithful into a frenzy.

Heart? You want heart?

The veteran Scottie boss showed some by sending his offense back onto the field for the two-point conversion. And when tailback Lane Sari burst through a gap on the left side of the line, the heart-thumping was almost audible in the visiting grandstands as the Hilanders escaped Longview Memorial Stadium with a wild 15-14 victory in front of 5,800 onlookers.

“That was pretty darn fun, wasn’t it? I’ve gotta make sure I take my other heart pill tonight,” said a beaming Hymes, as his players were mobbed by raucous Kelso fans who stormed the field. “I’ll tell you, my heart feels pretty good right now. Our kids played hard and so did Mark Morris’ kids. It was one of those great rival games. I couldn’t be more proud of our guys.”

Hymes watched his defense come up with numerous big plays in the second half against the Monarchs’ vaunted Wing-T to keep a 14-7 halftime deficit from expanding.

But when Mark Morris punted the ball back to Kelso with 3:33 remaining, with seven-point lead still glowing on the scoreboard, it was up to Hymes’ offense to prevent MM from winning its third straight against the Hilanders for the first time in series history.

When an improbable 22-yard pass from Margaris on fourth-and-11 somehow found its way through six hands and into the arms of Garrett Austin, there was hope.

When Mark Morris was whistled for a roughing-the-passer penalty on the play, pushing the ball to the 5-yard line, there was even more hope.

After Sari was stuffed for a 1-yard loss on first down and Margaris threw incomplete on second, the Kelso QB again looked to pass. But he was flushed out of the pocket by the Monarchs’ rush, took off running and dived into the left corner of the end zone.

The Monarchs were called for another penalty on the TD, and instead of a 3-yard try for the two-point conversion, it was half the distance.

Was there any doubt Hymes would go for the win?

“Oh, there was doubt,” he said. “When the ball was moved up because of the penalty, that made up my mind. We knew what we wanted to call, so we went with it.”

The call? A “90 blast,” the same play Kelso used late in a win over Prairie last season.

“The line did it. My guys, they opened it and I ran through it,” explained Sari, who rushed for 112 tough yards against a punishing Mark Morris defense. “This is unexplainable. It feels so good.”

Even after Sari’s two-point burst put the Hilanders on top, the Monarchs still had 22 seconds to play with after returning the kickoff to its 37.

Senior quarterback Scott Kirkpatrick, who completed passes of 45 and 17 yards on MM’s first two plays of the game, immediately went to work.

He passed 13 yards to Cody Molner to move the chains to midfield, then went to Molner again, who tossed to Jeremy Wolf, for a 12-yard gain via the hook-and-ladder.

Two seconds remained. The Monarchs, at the Kelso 38, sent every eligible receiver toward the end zone. Kirkpatrick found Molner again, who made a leaping catch at the 5-yard line and was tackled by two Hilanders as time expired.

“He was at the 5 … that’s two steps. But there’s a lot of games where two steps makes the difference,” said Mark Morris coach Shawn Perkins, whose offense stalled five times in the second half (missed field goal, turned over on downs, interception, punt, time expired). “Both teams played their hearts out. There were a lot of first-game mistakes by both sides, but I felt like they did a better job taking advantage of our mistakes than we did with theirs.

“I thought our defense was sharp and rose to the challenge,” he added. “We just made too many mental mistakes. These are 15-, 16- and 17-year-olds out there. We just have to shore up our mistakes and get better.”

Kirkpatrick hit Travis Kinder for 45 yards on the first play of the game, then followed it with a 17-yard dart to Molner. Three plays later, Wolf dashed 4 yards for a 7-0 MM lead.

Kelso answered with a nine-play, 47-yard march to tie it, with Sari plunging 1 yard on the first play of the second quarter.

It appeared it was going to be a smooth night for the Monarchs’ offense, especially after Kinder capped a methodical 63-yard drive with a 2-yard TD run with 7:16 left in the half to make it 14-7.

But Kelso’s defense, led by 220-pound senior Jarod Nickerson (three tackles for loss, one sack for minus-15 yards), buckled down and matched the bigger Monarchs in the trenches.

Aaron Hightower had an interception in the second half for the Hilanders, Makaio Mobbs made several crushing hits from the secondary, and the overall toughness of the defense put a smile on Hymes’ face.

“Our defense kept us in it until we could finally punch one in there,” he said. “We played hard all night.”

Taylor Beck and Jake Welch each forced fumbles for the MM defense.

Offensively, the Monarchs outgained Kelso 309-256. Kirkpatrick finished 8-of-17 for 156 yards, while Wolf and Kinder were MM’s top two rushers with 46 and 44 yards, respectively.

In addition to Sari’s 112 yards, Kelso also got 85 from fullback Jared O’Neil. Margaris completed 4-of-11 tosses for 56 yards.

Hilanders 15, Monarchs 14

Kelso       0     7     0     8 — 15

Morris     7     7     0     0 — 14

MM — Jeremy Wolf 4 run (Owen Baird kick)

Kel — Lane Sari 1 run (Makaio Mobbs kick)

MM — Travis Kinder 2 run (Baird kick)

Kel — Cameron Margaris 6 run (Sari run)

Standings/Schedule Links:

Kelso   Mark Morris