I was able to head down Route 6 on Tuesday night and see the Morris 7on7 which included the home team along with Bolingbrook, Wilmington and Joliet West.
This was also my first visit since Morris completed several major renovations including a brand new home side stands (basically replaced the old visitor side which is now the home side) along with a new scoreboard and turf field.....which is all well done and pretty amazing. Morris no question was in a huge need for these upgrades and it all looks and works great!
Here are some of my general thoughts and take aways from last night.
Morris- The Morris Football Club (yes still no nickname yet and seems to not be close to a new one) will be stacked this fall and just from the overall skills, numbers and depth this is a Morris team with a ton of potential and upside. The Morris offense has a really nice mix of skills and speed led by senior do it all in Sam Reddinger (Northern Iowa) who will see time on offense at RB while junior QB Carter Button looks to be more than capable of leading the Morris play action passing game. Button throws a good, accurate ball and was also pretty accurate here all evening. RB Ashton Yard is another key name while this team again has a roster full of talented skill kids. The Morris defensive back seven is also impressive and played well here. They had very little issue with defending Joliet West and Wilmington here while also hanging with a very fast and athletic Bolingbrook offense as well. Also FYI the Morris offensive line was at this event just hanging out and this is going to be a HUGE line physically with also a ton of varsity experience. Give me a Morris team that can run the football along with mixing in a strong play action passing game....and you are going to win a lot of games in 2022.
Bolingbrook- Yes the Raiders also will be a handful in 2022 and what stood out was the overall quarterback play. Both senior QB Jayden Laurence and freshman QB Jonas Williams saw playing time and reps here and the more I watched them the more I feel both will get significant playing time in 2022. Both Laurence and Williams have impressive physical tools, both have great feel and touch and both are more than capable of beating teams with both their legs and arm talent. Jayden Laurence sat out in 2021 due to a transcript issue at his previous high school and is no question hungry to get back on the field, while Williams (6-foot-3, 180 pounds) will no question be one of the top signal callers in the Class of 2026 both in Illinois and the Midwest. The remaining offensive skills are off the charts with both junior WR IMarion Stewart and junior WR Kyan Berry-Johnson being major impact, big play receivers while incoming transfer RB Joshua Robinson is a big back who will give the Raiders a powerful inside runner. The Raiders defense also has some serious talent in senior S Damon Walters (Northwestern) plus senior ILB Marcus Williams while both IMarion Stewart and Kyan Berry Johnson can also play defense when needed....yet the defensive backs group is loaded here with plenty of quality players. Again the biggest question for the Raiders is offensive line this summer...yet from what I see Bolingbrook has a lot in place to make a strong tun in 2022.
Wilmington- The Wildcats are the farthest thing you'll find to a big 7on7 program....as the Wildcats are a double wing offense that throws the football maybe 1-2 times a game...yet I also admire head coach Jeff Reents for just running the Wilmington offense here and getting better. The Wildcats will be a bit younger this fall but showed to have decent numbers and good overall talent and having an experienced quarterback under center in senior QB Ryder Meents who's an impressive all around athlete who's more than capable of throwing the football effectively. Also senior RB/DB Colin James is a name to watch and defensively the Wildcats just play hard and defend well. It's also really evident this Wilmington team remains well coached on both sides of the football and again they will just show up and beat you.
Joliet West- I had a chance to finally meet and say hello to new Joliet West head coach Dan Tito on Tuesday, Tito has been a long time assistant coach at West and seems to be a pretty popular pick from those in and around the school and the program. The Tigers have a handful of key names to watch and incoming transfer QB senior Carl Bew Jr. is a strong overall player and athlete who will see a ton of playing time this fall. The overall talent level is still low in some areas, yet the program seems to have a new energy with a new head coach this summer.
This was also my first visit since Morris completed several major renovations including a brand new home side stands (basically replaced the old visitor side which is now the home side) along with a new scoreboard and turf field.....which is all well done and pretty amazing. Morris no question was in a huge need for these upgrades and it all looks and works great!
Here are some of my general thoughts and take aways from last night.
Morris- The Morris Football Club (yes still no nickname yet and seems to not be close to a new one) will be stacked this fall and just from the overall skills, numbers and depth this is a Morris team with a ton of potential and upside. The Morris offense has a really nice mix of skills and speed led by senior do it all in Sam Reddinger (Northern Iowa) who will see time on offense at RB while junior QB Carter Button looks to be more than capable of leading the Morris play action passing game. Button throws a good, accurate ball and was also pretty accurate here all evening. RB Ashton Yard is another key name while this team again has a roster full of talented skill kids. The Morris defensive back seven is also impressive and played well here. They had very little issue with defending Joliet West and Wilmington here while also hanging with a very fast and athletic Bolingbrook offense as well. Also FYI the Morris offensive line was at this event just hanging out and this is going to be a HUGE line physically with also a ton of varsity experience. Give me a Morris team that can run the football along with mixing in a strong play action passing game....and you are going to win a lot of games in 2022.
Bolingbrook- Yes the Raiders also will be a handful in 2022 and what stood out was the overall quarterback play. Both senior QB Jayden Laurence and freshman QB Jonas Williams saw playing time and reps here and the more I watched them the more I feel both will get significant playing time in 2022. Both Laurence and Williams have impressive physical tools, both have great feel and touch and both are more than capable of beating teams with both their legs and arm talent. Jayden Laurence sat out in 2021 due to a transcript issue at his previous high school and is no question hungry to get back on the field, while Williams (6-foot-3, 180 pounds) will no question be one of the top signal callers in the Class of 2026 both in Illinois and the Midwest. The remaining offensive skills are off the charts with both junior WR IMarion Stewart and junior WR Kyan Berry-Johnson being major impact, big play receivers while incoming transfer RB Joshua Robinson is a big back who will give the Raiders a powerful inside runner. The Raiders defense also has some serious talent in senior S Damon Walters (Northwestern) plus senior ILB Marcus Williams while both IMarion Stewart and Kyan Berry Johnson can also play defense when needed....yet the defensive backs group is loaded here with plenty of quality players. Again the biggest question for the Raiders is offensive line this summer...yet from what I see Bolingbrook has a lot in place to make a strong tun in 2022.
Wilmington- The Wildcats are the farthest thing you'll find to a big 7on7 program....as the Wildcats are a double wing offense that throws the football maybe 1-2 times a game...yet I also admire head coach Jeff Reents for just running the Wilmington offense here and getting better. The Wildcats will be a bit younger this fall but showed to have decent numbers and good overall talent and having an experienced quarterback under center in senior QB Ryder Meents who's an impressive all around athlete who's more than capable of throwing the football effectively. Also senior RB/DB Colin James is a name to watch and defensively the Wildcats just play hard and defend well. It's also really evident this Wilmington team remains well coached on both sides of the football and again they will just show up and beat you.
Joliet West- I had a chance to finally meet and say hello to new Joliet West head coach Dan Tito on Tuesday, Tito has been a long time assistant coach at West and seems to be a pretty popular pick from those in and around the school and the program. The Tigers have a handful of key names to watch and incoming transfer QB senior Carl Bew Jr. is a strong overall player and athlete who will see a ton of playing time this fall. The overall talent level is still low in some areas, yet the program seems to have a new energy with a new head coach this summer.
