Hot fun in the summertime
JOLIET -- It's not that Morris High School football teams do not play with a target on their collective chests anyway, but this fall, that may be the case more than ever.
This will be Redskins' final season as a member of the Southwest Prairie Conference, and as coach George Dergo said during last Saturday's University of St. Francis 7-on-7 Passing Jamboree at Pershing School, "The way I read our conference, I don't think the other guys want us to leaving with the championship."
PHOTOs by larry kane/special to the herald news
Morris will join the North Central Illinois Conference, the NCIC, in the 2009-2010 school year. The members of that league are Dixon, Geneseo, Spring Valley Hall, Chillicothe IVC, Kewanee, LaSalle-Peru, Mendota, Ottawa, Princeton, Rock Falls, Sterling and Streator.
But for one more year, the Southwest Prairie -- Minooka, Plainfield Central, Plainfield North, Plainfield South, Romeoville, Oswego East and Oswego -- is the concern.
"We've been with a lot of those teams in the Southwest Prairie for a long time," Dergo said. "Our kids have talked already about how it's going to be different not playing in that conference in the future. I know one thing, they don't want to leave it with anything less than a title."
Morris is making the move largely because its projected enrollment does not measure up to the projected enrollments of the rest of the Southwest Prairie. In some sports, being competitive seemingly would be difficult.
Of course, a smaller enrollment never has been an issue in football. Take 2007, for example. The Redskins, who won the Southwest Prairie title with a 7-0 mark, finished 11-3 overall and were second in the state in Class 5A, dropping a 17-14 title-game decision to Metamora.
They always have prided themselves in being able to play with anyone on Friday nights in the fall.
"There will be a lot of pressure to do well in the conference this year," said senior Matt Hussey, who is likely to take over the quarterback duties. "All the other teams will want to get that last win against us."
Hussey will be one of the keys as Morris attempts to return to the state finals -- and this time claim the school's fourth state championship. Others include running back Adam Tondini, linebacker Drew Tondini, defensive end Tim Sereno, running back Matt Gronek and wide receiver Kevin Bell.
So outstanding are the Tondinis on both sides of the ball that the temptation would be to have them on the field all the time. Dergo said it won't happen.
"Adam played a lot both ways last year (at running back and defensive back)," Dergo said. "We're going to limit him on the defensive side this year. We really need him on offense. We had Abe Black to take a good number of the carries last year. We don't have that this year."
Adam Tondini rushed for 1,334 yards as a junior, averaging 7.3 per carry. Brother Drew was among the area's leading tacklers and capped his junior season with a huge effort in the state championship game.
He has the ability to help out offensively as well, but again ...
"My staff has been through that, where kids get worn out," Dergo said. "Stephen Wagner was on the field a lot over 14 games last year. He wasn't as fresh for the championship game as maybe he could have been. We don't want to burn kids out before the championship game, where they may not play as fresh as they should."
Hussey started at weak corner defensively beginning about halfway through his junior season. He logged a significant amount of practice time at quarterback and took a few snaps in games.
"I would play both ways if the coaches let me do it," he said with a smile.
Don't count on it. Hussey brings certain attributes to the quarterback spot, and that's where Dergo wants them displayed.
"I feel I've got a good arm and decent speed," Hussey said. "The good thing is we have a great backfield and tall wide receivers. I hope we have a decent passing game; I know we'll have a good running game."
Beginning with interesting nonconference games against Bishop McNamara and powerful Driscoll, Morris is hoping for a return trip to the state finals.
"It eats away at everybody, finishing second," Hussey said. "A lot of guys on this team were part of that, even guys who were sophomores last year, and we've all been working hard to continue the Morris tradition. We hope we can get to the title game and win it."
Of course, the Redskins would not mind one last Southwest Prairie Conference championship, either.
