New coach, same Morrison speed

FOOTBALL - MORRISON MUSTANGS

New coach, same state-caliber speed at Morrison

BY ERIC INGLES eingles@shawmedia.com

Steve Snider comes to Morrison finding a team ready to run.

The speed that Morrison teams have been able to show off and rely on in recent years is still there, and Snider is excited to be able to tap into it.

“I think we’re really going to run the ball well,” Snider said. “We’ve got a backfield with a lot of track guys and some wrestling guys that are tough, physical runners, and fast too. You look at Alex Anderson, Justice Brainerd, they’re two of our backfield guys and they were both on the 4x400 relay that took fourth in the state in June. Tommy Dauphin, he’s another track guy, a 200 and 100 runner. Kayden White and Logan Baker are both wrestlers.”

Snider comes to Morrison from Orangeville, where he joined the staff as an assistant coach in 2013, then took over as head coach for the spring season in 2021, going 2-4.

He was able to install most of the offense during summer work with the Mustangs.

“The playbook is different and we’re learning it,” Anderson said. “I think we’re picking up on it pretty quick.”

With so much speed on the field, Snider said he will be able to rotate players a lot more, keeping fresh legs on the field and allowing each player to make plays where they can excel.

While much of the speed is back, the Mustangs do have a new quarterback, a s D a n n y M o u w t a k e s o v e r a f t e r Nathan Helms graduated.

“You look at him and you don’t think Brett Favre, you don’t think Aaron Rodgers,” Snider said. “He’s not a tall guy or anything like that, but he might be the most respected guy in the locker room.”

With Mouw taking a leadership role on offense, Anderson and Baker have that role on defense as the Mustangs’ free safety and strong safety, respectively.

“The safeties in our defense make all the calls, do everything in the huddle,” Snider said. “They walked out there from Day 1 and they listen and they learn and they do everything right, and that gets the attention of their teammates.”

Defense was one of the keys to the Mustangs’ resurgence a few years ago. When Morrison reached the quarterfinals in 2019, the Mustangs allowed a total of 81 points in 12 games, shutting o u t F u l t o n , B u r e a u V a l l e y a n d Erie-Prophetstown in the span of four weeks and holding six other teams under 10 points. In the spring season, Morrison opened the campaign with a shutout win over Riverdale and held Newman to 14 points a couple of weeks later, but also allowed 34 points in a loss to Rockridge and 56 in a loss to Fulton.

Anderson said a big key on defense is the size up front.

“It’s a lot of big guys,” defensive lineman Tyler Shambaugh said. “A lot of guys have been playing since sophomore year, a few since freshman year, so it should be pretty good.”

On defense, Snider brings in a philosophy of using non-contact tackling drills in practice, saving the hits for Friday nights while keeping players fresh later in the year.

“There’s always doubters that say you can’t do it that way, there’s always the old-school coaches that [think] you have to beat on guys day after day,” Snider said. “Especially at a small school – I came from an even smaller school [Orangeville] – we don’t want to get beat down. We’re going to work on our form every single day, but we’re not going to beat on each other.”

FAR RIGHT: Morrison’s Alex Anderson tries to pull away from a Newman tackler during a game this past spring. RIGHT: Morrison’s Thomas Dauphin hauls in a pass for a first down against Newman this past spring.

Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@shawmedia.com Eric Ingles/Shaw Media Morrison coach Steve Snider, far right, watches as the Mustangs go through a drill during practice on Wednesday, Aug. 11.

MORRISON

Support Morrison Athletic Boosters; buy gas at Shell

The Morrison Athletic Boosters has been chosen as the recipient of the Morrison Shell Gas Station’s Giving Pump Promotion.

During the months of August and September, Morrison Shell will be donating 1 cent per gallon on pump one to the Morrison Athletic Boosters. B o o s t e r p r e s i d e n t , L u E l l e n L e e , encourages everyone to support the program and get fuel at the local Shell station! Lee stated, “These funds are used for the boosters to support the MJHS and MHS athletic programs and needs.”

The boosters regularly assist sports t e a m s w i t h e q u i p m e n t a n d o t h er r e l a t e d a t h l e t i c e x p e n s e s . M o s t recently, the boosters replaced the flags at the football stadium, recognized the track team with their state medals/plaques, installing a 3-sport/4year athlete sign in the gym, purchased bats for the baseball team, purchased electronic items and subscriptions for girls’ basketball and baseball, bought scale and mat tape for wrestlers, purchased and hung softball and baseball state appearance signs at the sports complex, and purchased cheerleader senior gifts. That is just in the past few months!

For more information, you are invited to the boosters monthly meetings. The next meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Sept. 8 at Happy Joe’s.

FOOTBALL - FULTON STEAMERS

Fulton brings exper ience heading into f irst N UIC sea son

BY ERIC INGLES eingles@shawmedia.com

The new guys in the NUIC are bringing with them a lot of experience on the offensive line, with plenty of three-year starters sprinkled throughout what last year proved to be a tough defense.

Fulton’s defense allowed a total of 26 points in its first four games of the spring – all wins, including a shutout of rival Morrison in what could be the last Wooden Shoe game for a while.

That defensive dominance came to an end in a season-ending loss to Princeton, but the Steamers feel there is a lot to build on defensively in the NUIC.

“We’re a fast team this year,” senior defensive back Brock Mason said. “I think we’re going to be fast to get to the ball, flying around the field making tackles.”

Mason is one of a trio of three-year starters on defense, along with linebacker Keegan Vankampen and defensive lineman Kole Schipper

“Those are the guys we’re looking for in leadership, but you’ve also got other guys that played last year,” Steamers coach Patrick Lower said. “We’re going to just keep building off what we did last year.”

Mason takes on more of the load offensively at wide receiver this year, as well as taking on more responsibility on defense. His coach is looking to see more consistency from Mason this year in hopes he will be ready for everything the team is throwing at him.

But even with the newcomers and the players who made the varsity debut in the spring, the learning curve is not as steep.

“A lot of our sophomores-turned-juniors have been around the program long enough to understand what we’re doing,” Lower said. “After only being gone two-and-a-half, three months from last year, there’s a lot more memory than what we thought there would be.”

On the offensive line, the Steamers have to replace the entire right side of the line after the graduations of Nate Portz and Josh Huizenga, but bring back the other three starters in Schipper, Joey Huizenga and Zach Dykstra. To fill the right tackle and right guard roles, three players are in a fight for two starting spots.

“The competition there is good,” Lower said. “We’re going to do what we do and expect them to handle it.”

At quarterback, Lower didn’t have to look far to find a replacement for the now-graduated Connor Barnett, handing the ball to his son, Patrick.

The younger Lower has big shoes to fill after Barnett completed 57 of 83 passes for 904 yards and 10 touchdowns in the abbreviated spring season, leading the Steamers to a 4-1 record and earning him SVM Player of the Year honors. His successor is benefitting now from many of the things Barnett had figured out in the spring.

“I think a lot of what Connor did last year was he taught me more about the mental game, knowing what’s coming in pass coverages, what the defense is going to be in,” he said. “I learned a lot from him last year, and I hope to use that and make myself even better this year.”

The senior quarterback sees a lot of versatility with Fulton’s offense, with Mason looming on the edge as a receiving target and plenty of options in the running game.

“We can run the ball inside and outside. We can throw shallow. We can throw deep,” he said. “I think I’m just excited to get going.”

Fulton is in its first year in the NUIC, with an unfamiliar Week 1 opponent in Galena looming at the end of the month.

“I think that our coaches are doing a good job getting us to where we need to be on the field, getting us to know what we need to do, so I don’t think we need to worry too much because our coaches will get us prepared no matter who it is,” Mason said.

Steve Siefken - SVM file photos The Fulton Steamers gather around the Wooden Shoe trophy after beating rival Morrison 56-0 this past spring at E.M. “Bud” Cole Field in Morrison. Despite losing their star quarterback and a few other key players, the Steamers still have plenty of experience on defense and the offensive line.