In season filled with injuries, balance and depth working in Morris’ favor ahead of Class 5A quarterfinal

Like most football teams, Morris has had to deal with its share of injuries this season.

Morris played several games without quad-captain Griffin Zweeres, who began the year as the starting running back. They also played two games without starting quarterback Brady Varner.

Other players got dinged up as well, but Morris was able to overcome those setbacks and qualify for the Class 5A playoffs with a 5-4 record.

That mark gave Morris a lower seed (13 out of 16 in the southern bracket) than it is accustomed to, but Zweeres has been able to return, as has Varner, and Morris now is in the quarterfinals, thanks to a 57-28 win over Triad in the first round and a 36-20 win over Highland in last week’s second round.

That has earned Morris a shot at top-seeded Morgan Park at 4 p.m. Saturday at Gately Stadium in Chicago. In order to beat the 10-1 Mustangs, Morris will need all hands on deck, which is nothing new for them.

That was the case in the win over Highland, as well. At one point, Zweeres left the game for a couple of series before returning, and Brady Varner was shaken up in the middle of a drive, forcing his twin brother Bryce to take over at the position.

When Zweeres went out, Caeden Curran, who assumed the lead back role in the games that Zweeres missed, filled in admirably, running for 39 yards on nine carries. Bryce Varner, meanwhile, ran it seven times out of the Wildcat formation and scored a pair of touchdowns.

Zweeres returned and ended the game with 56 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. For the season, Curran leads the team with 736 yards and eight TDs on the ground, while Zweeres has run for 449 yards and seven TDs.

“It doesn’t matter to us who is in there,” Bryce Varner said. “Everyone on the team trusts anyone who is on the field to do their part.”

It wasn’t only the running game that saw deep contributions in the win over Highland. It was clear from the start that the Bulldogs were intent on not allowing Morris’ Jack Wheeler to beat them. That is understandable, as Wheeler came into the game with 22 catches for 644 yards (29.3 average) and eight touchdowns, including TD catches of 74 and 49 yards against Triad.

That part of the plan worked for Highland, as Wheeler did not catch a pass until 1:50 remained when he snared an 8-yard TD pass from Brady Varner to put the exclamation point on the win.

Even with its big-play receiver being shut out for most of the game, the Morris air attack was in good shape, thanks to the contributions of Ethan Mumbrue (5 catches, 88 yards), Brett Bounds (3 catches, 57 yards) and Logan Sparrow (1 catch, 18 yards).

“They were rolling their coverage toward Jack,” Morris coach Alan Thorson said. “That meant that Ethan was open early and Brady got him the ball and they made some big plays for us. One of the biggest plays of the day was from Brett Bounds. He made a big play for a first down for us that got us out of a bad spot.

“Caeden Curran did a great job of coming in and running hard when Griff was out, even though he was playing a lot on defense, too.”

Thorson praised the work of offensive coordinator Justin Zink and defensive coordinator Ryan Clauson for the win against Highland.

“Coach Zink does a great job of preparing these guys,” Thorson said. “When other guys had to come in, there was no panic. We have actually been working on that Wildcat a little more lately, just as a way to get the ball to Bryce a little more, so that worked out well.

“Coach Clauson went to more of a Nickel look with an extra defensive back in the second half, and that helped us shut down the passing game that hurt us in the first half. We pretty much made them abandon their running game. When the fourth quarter hit, I told our guys this is what they have worked so hard in the offseason for. All of that work paid off and we were able to finish off the game strong.”