Morris defense shines in 42-0 win over LaSalle-Peru

MORRIS – For most of the season, the offense has taken the bulk of the headlines for the Morris football team. And for good reason, as they had averaged more than 40 points a game in the regular season.

In the first round of the Class 5A playoffs Friday night, however, it was the defense that took center stage.

Morris got 10 tackles, including one for loss, by senior linebacker Jorge Loza and two interceptions and four tackles by sophomore safety A.J. Zweeres en route to a 42-0 shutout of LaSalle-Peru.

“It was everyone working together,” Loza said. “We worked as a unit. The defensive line did its job, the linebackers did their jobs and the defensive backs did their jobs. To come out and get a shutout in the playoffs, that feels pretty good.”

Morris (10-0) will play host to Morton in the second round at 2 p.m. next Saturday, Nov. 5. Morton (8-2) defeated Highland, 56-33, on Friday night.

LaSalle-Peru, which finishes with a 5-5 record, got into a bad position early, when a fake punt on the game’s opening drive was snuffed out when Morris’ Sam Reddinger tackled punter Joey Shepard for an 8-yard loss. That gave Morris the ball at the Cavaliers’ 25. On third-and-5, Morris’ Zach Romak hit Cameron Hatcher for an 18-yard gain to the L-P 2, and Reddinger scored on the next play. The first of Henry Hansen’s six extra point kicks gave Morris a 7-0 lead with 6:48 to play in the first quarter.

“We botched the fake punt right off the bat,” L-P coach Jose Medina said. “We were trying to keep the ball and not let them have it, but it didn’t go well, and we gave them a short field. They are a potent offense, and you can’t give them a short field like that. That’s our [the coaching staff’s] mistake.”

Neither team scored the rest of the first quarter, as the L-P defense was able to stifle the Morris offense, which was missing leading rushing Ashton Yard. Yard’s absence was a game-time decision.

“We didn’t feel Ashton was quite ready to go,” Morris coach Alan Thorson said.

Morris eventually got the ball on its own 11 with 3:42 left in the first half and drove 89 yards on nine plays, with Romak hitting Myles Johnston for an 11-yard TD pass with just 34 seconds left in the first half to give Morris a 14-0 halftime lead.

With his leading rusher on the sidelines, much of the ground game came from Romak, with Reddinger, Loza and Jake Swartz picking up some of the slack. Romak also found his groove through the air in the second half and finished the game 13 of 19 for 227 yards and four touchdowns. He and Johnston connected on a 23-yard TD pass in the third quarter, and Romak and his brother, Aidan, combined for another two touchdowns. On the first brother-to-brother scoring connection, Aidan made a diving catch in the back of the end zone from 6 yards out. On the other, Zach hit Aidan with a short pass, and Aidan did the rest, racing up the sideline for a 35-yard score. Swartz capped the scoring with 55 seconds left with a 15-yard TD run.

Zach Romak also led Morris with 73 rushing yards on 15 carries.

“It took us a little while to get going,” Zach Romak said. “With Ashton out, I knew I had to step up and run the ball more. It was nice to have my brother to throw to and get a couple of touchdowns. Now, we go on to next week and we have a lot of work to do.”

Sometimes lost in the shuffle among the various Morris offensive weapons, it was another day at the office for Aidan Romak.

“We have so many weapons that anyone could have a big game,” he said. “Today, it was my turn. The first touchdown, I went in, then out and there was nothing but green turf in front of me and I was able to make the catch. On the second, I stiff-armed one guy, and the second one kind of slipped off of me. I broke it to the outside and there was no one there.

“We want to go 1-0 every week, and we’ve done it 10 straight weeks. We hope to do it for 14 weeks. We’ve worked hard in the offseason and keep giving it our all every week.”

While the Morris offense was scoring in bunches, the defense continued to stymie the Cavaliers. L-P finished with just 171 total yards, 47 of which came on a pass play from Sean Whitfield to Corey Walker in the game’s final minute.

“It all starts with our defense,” Thorson said. “The last time we played them [a 31-7 Morris win in Week 8], their only score came when they returned a fumble. So we shut out a good offense two games in a row.

“It was the entire defense as a whole. A.J. had the two picks, our linebackers were all over the place, and the defensive line did a great job against an offense that is tough to play against.”

As good as the defense was, there was plenty of praise for the offense, as well.

“I give a lot of credit to Jorge, Sam and Jake Swartz for stepping in and doing the job at running back,” Thorson said. “And, as often as Zach ran, it makes his throwing performance even more impressive, especially in wet and windy conditions.

“Myles Johnston (4 catches, 75 yards) had a great game with two touchdowns, and Zach Romak [3 catches, 52 yards, 2 TDs] was awesome. Cameron Hatcher (3 catches, 71 yards) had some real big plays for us, too.

“Our guys wanted to make a statement in Round 1. They had heard a lot about how weak our schedule was and that we didn’t play anybody. I think putting up 42 points against a good team and getting a shutout is a pretty good statement.”