Athlete of the Week: Jake Morris

It doesn’t matter how a football offensive play finishes, whether it be an Ian Maag toss to Colton Dana or a Gus Percy pitch to Will Quigley, everything starts when senior center Jake Morris snaps the ball.

Morris and the rest of his buddies in the trenches, Oliver Gregory, Jeffery Peras, Ty Bates, Kyle McCormack, Trevor Gelineau, and Joel Katz have had to shield their eyes this season, as the spotlight has been hitting them.

The offensive line put on the blocks and made the holes, as Quigley became the leading scorer MHS football history this season, notching his 228^th point, putting him at the top of the list, above Header greats like Jake Healey and Daynor Prince. Quigley broke the record against Gloucester, and is quick to spread the credit around.

“I don’t get those yards if the line doesn’t do their job, records are nice, but this teams wants championships,” Quigley said.

“I’m honored to be part of the group that helped Will bust the scoring record,” Morris said Wednesday afternoon.  “We work very hard, he’s worked very hard, there’s such great tradition here in Marblehead for football. So it’s great to be a part of that.”

The 17-year-old Morris snaps the ball to Percy and Maag and also sees some time at defensive tackle for the Magicians (6-2 overall, 3-0 in NEC/CAL Tier 2 play).

“My dad (John) was on the offensive line for when he was in high school in Marblehead, so I kinda started playing there because he did, he’s been a big influence on me as far as football goes,” Morris said.

“The leadership on this team has been great this year, we’ve got a great group of seniors and we’re really looking forward to every time we hit the field,” Morris said. “The captains have been great too.”

“Marblehead is such a great place to play sports in, it’s a small community, the town supports the teams, people recognize you when you’re out in town, it’s great to be a football player in Marblehead,” Jake said.

Morris dreamed of hitting the field for the high school team ever since he started playing youth football in third grade.

“It was awesome, the first time I ran on the (Piper) field and heard the crowd, it was so much better than I imagined it would be, just an incredible experience,” Morris said.

Morris throws the shot for the winter track team, and in the spring does the discus and the shot put events.

“My dad has helped me tremendously, and my youth coaches, Bruce Bial, Chip Percy, Dick Case and Paul Horgan have all helped me with great coaching since I’ve been in third grade,” Morris said.

Tonight the team hits Piper Field at 7 p.m., for the biggest game of the year against Beverly (2-1 league).

“Our practices have been solid this week, we know there’s a lot on the line Friday, it’s really the biggest game of our lives so far,” Jake said.

Morris’s favorite class in school is Sociology, he hopes to go to a college at a small school nearby and continue his track career. The last football game of his career might be Thanksgiving Day against the Big Blue, but he hopes the team will keep playing into December.

Jake lives Kenneth Road with his parents, two younger brothers and a younger sister; he’s lived in town his entire life.

The Jake Morris File:

Age – 17

Class – Senior at MHS

Favorite food – Cheese steak calzone

Favorite TV show – Beavis and Butthead

Favorite band – Red Hot Chili Peppers

Most embarrassing song on my iPod – “There’s some Miley Cyrus on there.”

Favorite athlete - Jack Lambert

Favorite team – New England Patriots

Dream – “To win the high school super bowl.”