Morris, Wilmington, Reed-Custer, Plainfield Central compete in 7-on-7

MORRIS – After getting rained out last week during a four-team 7-on-7 competition, Morris’ football team tried again Tuesday by hosting Reed-Custer, Wilmington and Plainfield Central.

All four teams were excited by the opportunity to test themselves against athletes from other schools, even Reed-Custer and Wilmington, which both are members of the Illinois Central Eight and will play each other during the regular season.

“The big thing for us is just to get the reps,” Reed-Custer coach Gavin Johnston said. “We were very senior heavy last year, so most of our guys are going up against varsity competition for the first time, and it’s good to have them get used to the speed of the game on this level.

“Morris is very talented, unfortunately, we drew them right off the bat and didn’t look very good, but the rest of the day we got better.”

The Comets, who went 11-1 last season and 10-2 in 2021, are searching for school history this season.

“The Reed-Custer program has never made the playoffs in three straight years,” Johnston said. “That’s the goal for this group. We had a special group of kids the last two years, and these guys this year have grown up following them. I think they have a little chip on their shoulders always being compared to them, and that can be a good thing. They want to show how good they are as well.”

Wilmington, on the other hand, has made the playoffs for 25 straight years under coach Jeff Reents, and the Wildcats have plenty returning from last year’s 9-2 team. The 7-on-7 format is not Wilmington’s forte, as they feature a run-heavy, double-wing offense. The style of play does, however, help prepare the Wildcats for what they will see from more pass-oriented teams during the season.

“It’s always nice to get out here and compete against other teams,” Reents said. “I always say 7-on-7 is football in pajamas, but it lets us see our guys in game type of situations. Last week, we played JCA and Bishop Mac and this week we had Morris and Plainfield Central. We aren’t going to see that type of speed usually, so to see our guys go up against it and compete is a good thing.

“It’s nice that [Morris coach] Alan [Thorson] always has us come over. It’s a chance for our guys to go up against three talented teams.”

Plainfield Central has reached the playoffs in both of coach Robert Keane’s two years at the helm, and they hope to continue the streak this season.

“We’re excited,” Keane said. “We have some good kids and quite a few who got a lot of playing time last year. We’ve had a great offseason, and now we get to see how much these guys have developed.

“At this point, any reps are good reps, and we got a lot of reps today. It’s nice to come out here to Morris, who we haven’t seen in a long time since we were in the same conference together way back when, and to play against solid tams like Wilmington and Reed-Custer that we don’t normally see. The more styles we can see and go up against will only prepare us for anything we might see in the regular season.”

Morris continued to show off its talent at the skill positions on both sides of the ball and didn’t seem to have much of a drop-off when the second unit hit the field.

“We got a lot of kids a lot of reps today,” Thorson said. “That’s not easy to do when you have 60 guys on the sidelines. Our defensive coordinator [Ryan Clauson] got 16 linebackers on the field today. It’s good to get everyone on the field, because you never know when they might need to come into a game.

“It’s great for us coaches to get to put some eyes on all these guys in game-type of competition. Yes, it’s only 7-on-7 and there are no pads, but we get to see what kind of competitors the kids are. I was happy with what I saw today.”