Morris football has lofty goals

MORRIS – Even though there are no playoffs, the Morris football team still has a lofty goal for the 2021 season, which kicked off Wednesday when the Redskins held their first practice.

“We want to go 6-0 and win the [Interstate 8] Conference title,” Morris quad-captain Tyler Davis said. “We’re just excited to be able to get back on the field. And as long as we are out here, we might as well win the conference.”

Davis’ optimism appears to be well founded, as the Redskins return a wealth of experience from last year’s team that finished 7-3. Davis, who will play tight end and defensive end, is one of the many players coming back who saw a lot of time on the field last year.

Other key returning players for the Redskins’ offense are running backs John Landers and Jorge Loza; wide receivers Keegan Puckett, Parker Skubic and Colin Cummings; and offensive linemen Justin Hemmersbach, Drayden McKerrow and Devin Bailey.

“We have a lot coming back,” Morris coach Alan Thorson said. “Our goal every year is to win a state title. Since there are no playoffs this year, we are focused on winning every game we have on the schedule and giving the seniors a conference championship to go out on.”

Newcomers to the offense include junior quarterback Zack Romak, sophomore running back Sam Reddinger and linemen Nick Perry and Gabe Leone.

“We really like what Zack gives us at quarterback,” Thorson said. “He has a strong arm, he’s athletic and can run with the ball, and his accuracy is getting better. What is really nice about him is that he really knows the offense and sometimes he comes to me or [offensive coordinator] Greg [Larsen] with suggestions.

“It’s great to have a quarterback that understands the game that well.”

Besides the players returning at wide receiver, Thorson also counts Aiden Romak, Nathan Jepson and Myles Johnston as players who will contribute at that position.

“This may be the deepest corps of receivers that we’ve had here in a while,” he said. “All of these kids are fast and very athletic. We should be able to rotate guys in and out and always have fresh legs on the field.”

The defense for Morris also brings back plenty of experience, as returning starters abound on both the defensive line and in the defensive backfield. Returning upfront for the Redskins are defensive ends Davis and Patrick McPherson, along with defensive linemen McKerrow and Bailey.

“We have returning starters upfront, but we also have some new guys that will be able to rotate in and keep us fresh there.”

Thorson said that Matt Luke, Nick Perry, Gabe Leone, Aiden King and Hemmersbach all will be in the defensive line rotation.

In the backfield, returning starters are Aidan Romak and Jepson at cornerback and quad-captain Cam Anderson and Zack Romak at safety. Others who will see time in the defensive backfield are Johnston and Cam Hatcher at safety and Cade Miller and Austin Helland at cornerback.

“Zak Romak was an honorable mention All-Conference player at safety last year as a sophomore,” Thorson said. “It’s hard to tell a player like that that he might not play as much at that position, but there are going to be times when we need Zack to stay on the sidelines for a few defensive plays so we can talk about what’s happening with the offense. We feel good about putting some other guys in there and not losing much when that happens.”

At linebacker, Jorge Loza is the lone returning starter, but Thorson said there is a deep talent pool to draw from to play alongside Loza. Among them are Cody Bledsoe, Nate Hart, Jake Kjellesvik, Reddinger, Luke Brown, Jack Amiano and Jake Yard.

“All of the linebackers are very athletic and run well,” Thorson said. “When we get full pads on, we will find out who the hitters are.”

Thorson said that the conference will be competitive again this season.

“Sycamore is the returning conference champion, and they are always tough and well coached,” he said. “Kaneland should be good also, but we don’t play them this year. There are only six weeks and seven other conference teams. The [athletic directors] looked at the original schedule, and that week we played Kaneland seemed to be the fairest one to remove from the schedule. That way, almost everyone had three home games and three road games except two teams. They just switched who was home, and now everyone has three home games and three road games.

“Another team to watch will be LaSalle-Peru. They made the playoffs last year and return most of the players in their backfield.”