Shooting 42 was the thing to do for Morris Tuesday as it swept a varsity boys golf triangular over hosting Seneca and Coal City at Nettle Creek.

Justin Larsen, Trevor Lines and Michael McPherson of Morris shared medalist honors with 42s, and the Redskins also used a 44 from Jacob Cobian to reach their team score of 170. Seneca totaled a 190 behind a 44 from Ben Rohder, and a 46 from Alex Wills led Coal City, which finished with a 202.

One day removed from a 160-185 dual loss at Yorkville, Morris coach Matt Lafond was much more pleased with Tuesday's totals.

"It's a relief to see the guys back more or less at where they're capable of," Lafond said. "Jacob Cobian, one of our juniors, is fighting for his place in a tough, tough crowd of juniors and seniors, and him going out and shooting a 44, that was nice to see. ... Our guys know what their abilities are, and for many of them, a 42 is not good enough. As a coach, you're stoked that they have those kind of expectations for themselves."

McPherson, the Redskins' captain, was among those dissatisfied with his score.

"It's all right, but it could be a lot better," he said. "I started off with a nice par and then had a bad hole. That's kinda how my day went. I'd go good hole, bad hole before I finally settled in and parred out of my last three or four holes. I started playing smarter. I started thinking about my shots more."

Larsen shaved seven strokes off the 49 he carded Monday at Blackberry Oaks, though he would like his score to be lower still.

"The first couple (of matches) are ice breakers," Larsen said. "I started kind of slow — par, bogey, double bogey — but then I had four pars in a row. But I should have had a couple birdies in there and didn't get it done. When it's not your day, there's nothing you can do."

At one point, Lines thought he would never finish with the kind of score that could merit a share of medalist honors.

"I thought it was going to be really bad, but I went on a nice run at the end to make it a lot better," Lines said. "I didn't start all that poorly, but I had a triple bogey in the middle of my round, on No. 2, when I hit it in the water."

Seneca trended in an opposite direction from the Redskins on Tuesday. The Fighting Irish had carded a 170 Monday at Manteno, only to add 20 strokes in a more familiar setting the following day.

"We definitely didn't expect that on our home course after the way we played at Manteno," Irish coach Bryan Erickson said. "A few of our guys are struggling. I know a 190 is not where we want to be, especially here."

Mike Osborne carded a 46 for the Irish, who counted a 48 from Josh Rohder and a 52 from Conlan Callahan.

"Ben Rohder played well after a rough start. His last five holes or so, he really came around and shot well," Erickson said. "For Mike Osborne, a 46 is probably average or a little better. We battled through for a conference win, and I'm happy any time we can get one of those, but we have work to do."

The Coalers counted a 47 from Jack Scerine, a 53 from Keegan Thatcher and a 56 from Zach Spesia, but some troubling early-season trends continued.

"We're not real pleased with the way our season has started," Coal City assistant coach Todd Painter said. "As I'm sure coach (David Sinkular, who was unable to make Tuesday's match) would tell you, we've been very up and down between our varsity and our J.V. guys have struggled to establish themselves and play consistently."


JUNIOR VARSITY

Coal City 215,

Morris 223,

Seneca 256

Cody Jerz fired a 46 to lead the Coalers to victory, though Morris' Nick McPherson was medalist with a 45. Seneca was led by Dan Armstrong's 57.