Morris’ Griffin Zweeres ready to take his turn in the lead

Griffin and AJ Zweeres have been on so many teams together, it is easy for people to think the two are twins.

The fact is AJ is a year older than Griffin. AJ graduated from Morris in the spring, having been a three-sport standout and a captain on all of his teams, leading the football team to an 11-1 record and a Class 5A quarterfinal appearance.

This fall, Griffin Zweeres returns for Morris as a starting running back and linebacker ... without his brother for the first time in a long time.

“It was nice to have my brother around,” Griffin Zweeres said, “but this year is different. We did lose quite a bit of talent from last year’s team, but we have a lot of talent coming back, too.

“I like to be the one in charge, and I think this year everyone is going to look to me for that leadership. I’m excited for it.”

Griffin Zweeres recently was named one of four captains for the football team, along with Dakota Goff, Blaine Beshoar and Omarion Miller.

Last season, Zweeres was the backup running back to Jacob Swartz, but still ran for 190 yards and four touchdowns on 41 carries and also collected 35 tackles as a linebacker.

The Zweeres’ father, Joe, also was a multisport star at Morris in his playing days. Griffin, meanwhile, was the starting catcher for Morris’ third-place Class 3A baseball team this spring, hitting .363 with six doubles, three home runs and 37 RBIs, which was good for second on the team.

Several members of that team also return to the football team this season, including Jack Wheeler, Brett Bounds, Nazim Baftiri and Merek Klicker.

“I know what is expected from Morris sports,” Griffin Zweeres said. “We are used to winning. I think that getting to state in baseball will really help our confidence in football this year. We know we can play with anybody.”

Morris’ football season came to an end last year in a 49-7 loss to Joliet Catholic Academy. Morris avenged the loss a bit by beating JCA 7-0 in a baseball sectional, but the players haven’t forgotten the way the football season ended.

“We’re definitely hungry for this year,” Zweeres said. “The way we lost last year isn’t sitting too well with us. We want to go further this year than we did last year, that’s for sure.”

Morris coach Alan Thorson is more than happy to have Zweeres’ experience and leadership returning this year.

“Griff will definitely be one of the leaders on this team,” Thorson said. “He’s a different guy than AJ. He’s more of a physical type of player, both at running back and at linebacker.

“Even though Griff had Jacob Swartz in front of him at running back last year, he contributed a lot to our offense. In the Sacred Heart game, he pretty much saved us with some big runs when Swartz came out with an injury.

“He has also played in a lot of big-time baseball games, so that gives him a lot of experience to draw on. He is definitely not new to competition, and he loves to go out there and compete.

“We’re excited to see what Griffin has in store for us his senior year.”