Morton: Lone gunslinger

Updated: August 18, 2011 4:12PM

Three years ago, Morton freshman coach Robert Hall saw something in one of the Governors’ rookie receivers.

Hall had a feeling that Chris McCormack, who had been catching passes all during his youth football days with the Hessville Vipers, might be better off throwing them.

The rest is Morton football history.

By the following season, McCormack had mastered the quarterback position well enough to earn a spot in a platoon with then-junior Andrew Glidewell. The duo helped lead the Governors to the first sectional title in school history, and as an encore, they guided Morton to another sectional and its first regional crown last fall.

Now Glidewell has graduated and McCormack is flying solo, leading a Morton offense that again figures to be one of the most productive in the region.

“Everything has gone by quick,” McCormack said, “because of the team we’ve got and how good we are. The season flies by.”

So did the offseason, which McCormack spent working out and hitting the college camp circuit in an attempt to catch the eyes of some recruiters.

He made many of the drives — to Toledo, Akron, Ball State, Eastern Michigan and Purdue — with fellow senior Alfred Dickey. “We really connected then,” McCormack said, “so it was fun.”

Those two figure to connect a lot more this fall as the Governors rev up their high-octane passing game once again.

Dickey “might be the most talented player we have,” according to coach Roy Richards, but he’s hardly the only promising target for McCormack. Seniors Brock Daniels and Robert House also should cause headaches for opposing secondaries.

“We have a great chemistry,” McCormack said. “Alfred Dickey, Robert House, Brock Daniels — I’ve been throwing to them since I was a freshman and I’ve known Brock since kindergarten.”

They, plus a veteran offensive line that should give McCormack plenty of time to throw, could help the veteran QB put up some pinball-like numbers.

“If he stays healthy, I can see a 2,000-yard passing, 1,000-yard rushing (season),” Richards said.

That would be only fitting, Richards believes, given how good Glidewell and McCormack were the past two years.

“I think if either of them had been the guy, they’d have been a 2,000-yard thrower,” the coach said.

Richards also likes his two junior running backs, Kendall Huff and Eleazar Henderson. “We just have so many weapons around (McCormack) and such a good offensive line,” he said. “But none of that works if your trigger man’s not the way he is.”

And McCormack wouldn’t be the trigger man for the Governors if an assistant hadn’t spotted his potential back in 2008.

“I really have to credit Robert Hall,” Richards said. “He saw it in the middle of (McCormack’s) freshman season and made the change. I never really saw that coming, but we have good people here.”

Good people at spotting potential and good people at living up to it, if Hall and McCormack are any indication.

Coach

Roy Richards

Record

At school: 83-53 (13th year)

Overall: 106-78 (18th year)

Last season

Lost 48-12 to Dwenger in semistate

Key returnees

QB Chris McCormack

WR/S Alfred Dickey

OL Robert Hayes

OLB Diego Perez

Key losses

WR D’Jari Griffin

QB Andrew Glidewell

RB Kayln Aaron

College prospects

QB Chris McCormack

WR/S Alfred Dickey

Season outlook

The Governors are coming off the two best seasons in school history, and the plan is to reload, not rebuild, even though some key members of coach Roy Richards’ high-flying offense have graduated. QB Chris McCormack, who shared time with Andrew Glidewell the past two years, will run the show himself and has plenty of targets, including fellow seniors Alfred Dickey and Robert House. Juniors Kendall Huff and Eleazar Henderson are gamebreakers at running back and the O-line is loaded with experience. The outlook is equally upbeat on defense, where OLB Diego Perez leads a front seven loaded with veterans. “The goal is to have the third sectional trophy in our case, the goal is now to come back and repeat as regional champs,” Richards said. “None of us are talking about winning the conference, none of us are talking about beating Griffith. We’re talking about that game in November when we didn’t get the job done (a Class 4A semistate loss to Dwenger).”

Postseason

Class 4A Sectional 9 (East Chicago, Roosevelt, West Side, Griffith, Hammond, Clark, Morton, Highland)

Schedule

Aug. 19 at Griffith

Aug. 26 Lowell

Sept. 2 Clark

Sept. 9 at Highland

Sept. 16 Munster

Sept. 23 at Hammond

Sept. 30 at West Side

Oct. 7 Hobart

Oct. 14 Gavit

HISTORY LESSON

Season Record

2001 6-4, 6-0

2002 10-2, 6-0

2003 5-6, 2-5

2004 4-7, 1-6

2005 8-4, 4-3

2006 5-5, 3-4

2007 6-4, 2-1

2008 7-5, 3-0

2009 11-2, 3-0

2010 12-2, 3-0

Sectional titles: 2009-10

Regional titles: 2010

Semistate titles: None

State titles: 1965 (AP)

Roster

No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. Pos.

1 Chris McCormack 6-3 200 12 QB

2 August Aaron 6-1 180 12 WR/FS

3 Josh Bailey 6-1 180 11 WR

4 Jeff Wozniak 5-11 150 10 QB/FS

5 Torey Armstrong 5-10 150 10 QB/FS

6 Brock Daniels 6-4 185 12 WR

7 Robert House 6-1 165 12 WR

8 Juamarius Rogers 6-2 170 10 WR

9 David Wall 5-10 165 10 WR/FS

10 David Boyd 5-8 150 10 CB

11 Nate McClurg 6-0 175 11 WR

12 Jimmy Glidewell 6-0 175 11 QB

13 Devon Mingo 5-10 170 10 CB

14 Jonel Draine 6-0 160 12 WR

15 Alfred Dickey 6-1 180 12 FS

15 Freddy Lopez 5-9 160 10 CB

16 Alex Dickey 6-0 180 12 FS

16 Reuben Rodrgiuez 5-7 160 10 CB

17 Eric Coff 5-10 175 10 CB/FS

18 Kendall Huff 5-10 175 11 RB

19 Keith Day 5-9 160 12 CB/FS

19 Erik Lopez 5-9 160 10 FS

20 Scott Grados 5-9 150 10 CB

21 Serjio Valdez 6-0 165 12 FS

22 Elezear Henderson 5-10 190 11 RB

23 Juan Martinez 5-8 150 10 WR

24 Jamey Ramirez 5-10 180 11 CB

25 Greg Townsend 5-11 180 12 CB

25 Jerry Brown 5-8 160 11 CB/FS

26 Chris Dismuke 5-7 160 10 WR/CB

27 Avante Scott 5-8 165 10 RB/CB

28 Ryan Johnston 5-9 175 11 FB/LB

29 Carl Murry 6-2 178 11 WR

30 Curtis McDonald 6-0 215 12 DE

31 Freddy Creater 5-7 160 10 RB/CB

32 Davante Dawson 5-8 175 12 WR/LB

33 Zach Ward 6-3 220 10 FB/LB

34 Diego Perez 6-1 220 12 LB

35 Felix Torres 6-0 190 12 LB

36 Ben Daniels 6-0 175 10 WR

37 Shayeveon Miller 6-1 195 12 FB/LB

37 Steve Marin 6-0 180 11 LB

38 Ken Coleman 5-8 175 10 RB/LB
39 Jalel Khalid 6-3 185 12 WR

40 Aaron Spoor 5-11 175 12 CB/FS

50 Alfredo Guttierez 6-2 235 11 OL

51 Faron Osborne 5-11 210 12 LB

52 Elijah Knight 5-10 175 10 LB

53 Canaan McHerron 5-11 200 11 OL

54 Seth Miller 6-0 250 11 OL

55 Fabian Durant 6-3 260 12 DL

56 Devon Wright 6-0 200 10 LB

57 Alfredo Valencia 6-2 240 11 OL

58 Curtis Freeman 6-1 260 11 OL

59 Sebastian Navarro 6-0 250 11 OL

60 Orlando Reyes 6-0 180 10 LB

61 Mark Gutierrez 5-10 210 10 DL

62 Zach DeWitt 5-6 150 11 K

63 Billy Rosas 5-9 190 11 DL

64 Daniel Homola 6-0 265 10 OL

65 Brent Erwin 5-11 250 10 DL

66 Raul Martinez 5-10 185 12 DL

66 Cameron Peterson 5-11 230 10 DL

67 Adonijah Adams 6-0 170 10 DL

68 Joel Gardiola 6-0 280 10 OL

69 Arturo Gante 6-0 245 10 OL/DL

70 Duncan Murphy 6-2 220 10 OL

71 Ronald Scott 6-4 245 11 DL

72 Robert Hayes 6-3 285 12 OL

73 Zack Leeth 5-10 200 11 DL

74 Marneke Evans 6-0 200 10 DL

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