| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME | RESULT | RECORD |
| Aug. 20 | at Jay County (4A) | 7:00 pm | 58-7 | 1-0 |
| Aug. 27 | at New Palestine (4A) HHC | 7:30 pm | 14-24 | 1-1 |
| Sept. 3 | Greenfield Central (4A) HCC | 7:00 pm | ||
| Sept. 10 | Muncie South (4A) | 7:00 pm | ||
| Sept. 17 | at Yorktown (3A) HCC | 7:30 pm | ||
| Sept. 24 | Pendleton Heights (4A) HCC - Homecoming | 7:30 pm | ||
| Oct. 1 | at Rushville (3A) HCC | 7:00 pm | ||
| Oct. 8 | Mount Vernon (4A) HCC- Senior Night | 7:30 pm | ||
| Oct. 15 | at Shelbyville (4A) HCC | 7:30 pm | ||
| Oct. 22 | Sectional Game One | 7:30 pm |
GAME OF THE WEEK
Greenfield-Central (1-1) at Delta (1-1)
GAME TIME: 7:00 pm ET, Delta Stadium.
COACHES: Roger Dodson, 11-32 in 5th year at Greenfield-Central, 75-91 in 17th year overall. Grant Zgunda, 123-25 in 13th year at Delta, 160-37 in 18th year overall.
SAGARIN RATINGS: Delta, 66.85, 80th overall, 21st in Class 4A. Greenfield-Central, 47.32, 190th overall, 43rd in Class 4A.
LAST OUTING: Greenfield-Central lost to Pendleton Heights, 31-14, Aug. 27. Delta lost to New Palestine, 24-14, Aug. 27. OPPONENTS' RECORDS: Greenfield-Central 2-2, Delta 2-2.
SERIES LAST 15 YEARS: Delta, 14-0.
LAST MEETING: Delta, 35-3, Sep. 4, 2009
New Palestine 24, Delta 14
August 28th
NEW PALESTINE, Ind. -- The streak is over, and now Delta is playing from behind in the race for a Hoosier Heritage Conference title.
After 19 straight regular-season wins, the Eagles' streak came to an end Friday night on the road. Delta coach Grant Zgunda said it's the 0-1 start in conference play that bothers him more than his first regular-season loss since Oct. 12, 2007.
"That's not something we spend a lot of time talking about," Zgunda said of the streak. "The thing that is heartbreaking for us is that it's a conference game so now we are behind the 8-ball. We are 0-1. We set our goals to win championships.
The Eagles lost to New Palestine thanks in part to an inability to run the ball. Delta rushed 25 times for 75 yards for the game. And on defense, the Eagles allowed 54 New Palestine carries for 251 yards, an average of 4.6 yards per carry.
"In high school football, you better be able to run the ball, which we couldn't do," Zgunda said. "And you have to stop the run on defense, which we didn't do. If you're losing that battle -- and they didn't turn the ball over -- it's not pretty."
While New Palestine didn't cough up the ball once, Delta had four turnovers -- two lost fumbles and two interceptions.
The Eagles' two scores came on the ground.
In the first quarter, Austin Fuatavai pushed in from 4 yards out. And in the fourth quarter, Zach Overfield ran in from 2 yards out.
For the game, quarterback Ozzie Mann completed 11-of-27 passes for 182 yards with one pick. Senior Aaron Fry caught four balls for 77 yards.After opening the season with two straight road games, Delta returns home the next two weeks to face Greenfield-Central on Sept. 3 and Southside on Sept. 10.
Delta dominates Jay County in football season opener
By JESSE TEMPLE * jtemple@muncie.gannett.com * August 21, 2010
PORTLAND, Ind. -- What can be gleaned from a game that is over, for all intents and purposes only minutes after starting.
For coach Grant Zgunda and his
powerful Delta football team, the answer, frankly, was two-fold on Friday night
against Jay County.
"I'm sure that they aren't as bad as they appeared to be in the first half, and we're not as good as it appeared," Zgunda said.
Jay County can only hope Zgunda is right.
Class 4A No. 6 Delta opened its season with an absolute dismantling of outmanned Jay County, 58-7, in The Star Press Game of the Week. The Eagles scored all 58 of their points in the first half without giving up a point, leading to a decision to use a running clock in the second half.
The whitewash left both teams in a difficult spot as halftime neared. Delta continued sending out its starters offensively so they could receive enough repetitions to prepare for next week's clash with New Palestine -- defending Class 4A sectional champions just like Delta. Jay County, meanwhile, could do nothing to stop the Eagles' potent first-stringers. Delta scored touchdowns on seven of its eight first-half possessions and added a blocked punt for another score.
"We got some breaks with some fumbles and turnovers, and things went right," Zgunda said. "But I'm proud of our football team.We had a lot of guys that were new sprinkled in with some veteran guys. All you can do is go out and play hard, and I thought we executed pretty well for our first game."
Among the players who executed well while filling new roles were senior running backs Zach Overfield and Todd Fowler. In his first varsity game as Delta's main running back, Overfield registered nine carries for 97 yards in one half of play, scoring four touchdowns. His first TD, a misdirection 16-yard run down the left side of the field, put Delta ahead 7-0 just 1:34 into the game, helping to send the Eagles to their 19th straight regular-season victory.
"The running game was very physical," Overfield said. "Our line did a great job making holes for me and Todd. We expect to do this every week. Nothing changes. Just because it's Jay County, I think we can do it against any team."
The speedy Fowler carried the ball just twice, but he made them count. He scored on a 22-yard touchdown run on his first touch and scampered 25 yards on his next carry to set up one of Overfield's touchdowns. Fowler also recovered a punt in the endzone to put Delta ahead 14-0 at the 8:17 mark of the first quarter.
Delta quarterback Ozzie Mann also shined, beginning his junior campaign with a solid outing by completing 7-of-10 passes for 101 yards and two touchdowns. His main target was senior Garrett Zgunda, who caught five balls for 62 yards and a score. Wide receiver Aaron Fry caught the other touchdown pass on a five-yard strike.
On Jay County's side of the ball, things weren't nearly as smooth.
The Patriots struggled, in part, because they entered the evening with zero varsity game experience under first-year head coach Steve Boozier's new option-running system. And it certainly showed on Friday night.
Jay County gained just 39 yards rushing in the first half while being penalized for 60 yards. Sophomore quarterback Brock McFarland did not complete a pass in the first half, going 0-for-5 with one interception thrown to Delta defensive back Jake Bryan.
It wasn't until 1:30 remained in the fourth quarter that the Patriots finally managed a score. Running back Blake Crouch punched into the end zone from three yards out against Delta's backups, ending the shut out.
Boozier maintained a sense of optimism -- and a sense of humor -- about his team, even on a night when the Patriots suffered their worst loss since a 70-13 defeat against Indianapolis Cathedral on Oct. 6, 2006.
"We're in no way shape or form panicked," Boozier said. "Now, if these kids had been running this system three or four years and it looked like that, I'd be ready to jump off the back of the stadium. But we'll be fine."
Catch Delta Football Highlights on YouTube!
http://www.youtube.com/user/deltaonlinevideos
Delta grad Logan Young settling in with Indiana University football team
By JESSE TEMPLE jtemple@muncie.gannett.com July 21, 2010
Logan Young's football career at Indiana University got off to an inauspicious beginning in his first few days on campus last month. In fact, it's safe to say those initial workouts really couldn't have gone much worse.
Shortly after arriving in Bloomington on June 15 for basic orientation and acquainting himself with his new football teammates, Young returned to his dorm and detected a scratching, sore feeling when he swallowed. He'd been there less than 12 hours, and already he had developed strep throat.
"I went to the work out the next day and I felt like crap," Young said. "That was easily the worst day and the worst weekend since I've been here. Definitely got off to a bad start."
Fortunately for Young, life has been considerably better at IU since that week -- even if he's had to endure a difficult trek back to full strength.
The Delta graduate and IU football commit is on campus early, taking summer courses, working out with the team and preparing for his freshman season. And in his first month with the Hoosiers, he's had to wait for his body to recover from illness, all while learning just how big of an intensity leap exists between the high school and collegiate levels of football.
"I've probably thrown up after 80 percent of the lifts and workouts," Young said on the phone while resting in his dorm room after a workout last week. "That's how hard they are. It's ridiculous. ... I don't know if part of the reason I've been throwing up a lot is getting over sickness from when I got here. This week, I haven't really done it near as much. But last week and the previous week I did a lot."
Of all the workouts, Young cited his Thursday session as the most difficult. The workout entails a series of squats in the weight room before heading outside to do three more sets involving the legs.
"I've never been through a harder workout," Young said. In his senior season at Delta in 2009, Young made 72 receptions for 1,529 yards -- good for 21.2 yards per catch -- and 15 touchdowns to earn a spot on the Associated Press Class 4A All-State Offensive Team. He was the only Delaware County football player to be named first-team all-state in any class.
In the final game of his Delta career, a 49-20 defeat against Fort Wayne Dwenger in a Class 4A regional playoff, Young reeled in 10 catches for 209 yards and two scores. Delta closed its season at 12-1 for the second straight year.
Young said that, despite the early setbacks last month, his decision to attend Indiana in June was the right one.
"We work out, lift, we have two classes and study tables. It's a really busy time," Young said. "But the guys down here are really cool. I've gotten to know a lot of them already. I'm definitely glad I came early."
Young certainly has a long list of talented receivers at Indiana from which to learn. And because of the sheer breadth of talent at wide receiver for the 2010 season, Young said he anticipated red-shirting, although the possibility remains that he could play sparingly this year.
Among the most highly skilled returning wide receivers is junior Tandon Doss, who led the Hoosiers in receptions in nine games and receiving yards in eight games last year, totaling 72 catches for 962 yards and five touchdowns overall. Doss was selected first-team All-Big Ten by conference media members last season for his performance.
Other key wideouts returning for Indiana are junior Damarlo Belcher (61 catches for 770 yards) and senior Terrance Turner (46 catches for 443 yards).
"I'm the only freshman wide receiver here right now," Young said. "It's pretty much all the starting receivers and me. So I'm getting a chance to work out with those guys a lot, which is good. It's been a pretty fun time."
According to Young, the Hoosiers' coaching staff wants to use six wide receivers in the rotation, and Young very well could earn the sixth and final spot.
"But I don't want to play if I don't have to," Young said. "We're most likely going to lose two, three receivers next year. Then I'll have four years of solid playing time instead of wasting one year and getting in a couple plays a game."
In the short time he's been on the Hoosiers' practice field, Young said he had learned plenty from the experienced receiving corps.
"They don't run a route that I ran in high school," Young said. "All their routes are so much different than the ones I ran. The sets. Yardage. The way you cut.
"In high school, I could get away with rising on a cut. I have to keep my eyes level, not get choppy steps. Every time I think I run a good route, Terrance or Tandon will come up to me and be like, 'Nah, you rose up too much.' They know their stuff. They've been all over me about my routes, which is good. So I want to work on that to have a chance of playing."Indiana begins its season at home against Towson on Sept. 2.
Delta player set for all-star football game
By JESSE TEMPLE jtemple@muncie.gannett.com July 16, 2010
MUNCIE -- Kegan Morris figured he owed this favor to Jim Thompson.
For 24 years, Thompson had been synonymous with the offensive line aspect of Delta football, coaching the big boys in the trenches, teaching his players proper technique and pushing them to be better. And, more often than not, they were better because of him -- including Morris, a co-captain for the Eagles last season.
Yet through all of the program's success, particularly over the last decade that included five sectional titles, none of Thompson's offensive linemen had earned a coveted spot in the prestigious North-South All-Star Football Game.
In fact, not since 1978 had Delta produced a true offensive lineman in the game, when Mike Tschuor competed as a member of the North team.
So of course Morris, one of the more skilled true offensive linemen in recent Eagles history, wanted to be that player to finally break Thompson's streak.
In early March, he discovered he'd done just that."When I found out, that was such a surreal feeling," Morris said. "I grew up watching Coach Thompson coach the offensive line. It's a dream. I'm his first offensive lineman to go, so I'm kind of happy to be that first one. But I'm hoping he's proud, too."
Thompson sure is.
Morris is the only player from Delaware County who was selected to compete in the North-South contest. The game will be at 7 p.m. today at North Central High School in Indianapolis. "I kept thinking sooner or later, I'm going to stay in this game long enough that I'm going to have a lineman get in this game," Thompson said. "Kegan kind of fulfilled that wish. So I can scratch that off my list. ... A lot of people overlook the linemen. So it's a special opportunity or him to get that kind of recognition."The 6-foot-5, 275-pound Morris helped anchor an offensive line that paved the way for two All-State running backs in Kyle Stevens and Greg Heban in 2008. During the 2009 campaign, Morris and the O-line created gaps for 1,000-yard rusher Teddy Dawson.
"The last two years, he's been without question our best offensive lineman," Thompson said. "The guy we go to when we need a first down and we need to make a play. At times, we can look at film and he's just dominant in the fourth quarter."
Delta won sectional championships with perfect 12-0 marks before falling to Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger in each of the past two seasons. And Morris clearly was largely responsible for that success, even if few people outside of the Delta program were aware of his talents.
"Kegan never got enough credit for everything he did," said former Delta teammate Logan Young, an Indiana University football commit. "We wouldn't have had the team we had the past two years if it wasn't for his leadership. He's definitely one of the most underrated linemen in Indiana."
Morris, along with the rest of the North and South players, has been staying since Sunday in Cory Bretz Hall on the campus of the University of Indianapolis, as each team prepares for the all-star game.
On Monday, the teams held three practices, while the rest of the days have featured two practices. While one team is practicing, the other is in team meetings. On Monday, meetings began for the North squad at 8 a.m. The final team meeting didn't end until 10 p.m.
The week also included a trip to the Indiana football hall of fame in Richmond on Tuesday, a visit to Camp Riley in Indianapolis to assist kids with physical disabilities on Wednesday and a banquet for the all-star players at Primo in Indianapolis on Thursday.
Morris, who will play football in the fall for Saint Francis University in Fort Wayne, said he was enjoying the entire week, particularly the opportunity to compete against the top players in the state.
"It's definitely a lot different from going up against your normal high school kids," Morris said. "These guys, a couple of them are going Big Ten. I'm not used to that. It's a new experience. It's pretty neat."
Among the Division I players involved in the game are three Ball State signees from Indiana. Defensive back Jeffrey Garrett (Ben Davis), running back Phil Dudley (Ben Davis) and tight end Garrett Mack (Center Grove) are representing the South all-star team.
If the all-star experience wasn't enjoyable enough for Morris, he can also look forward to receiving one final opportunity to showcase his high school today. Each player at the all-star game wears his high school helmet, which means Morris will strap on the yellow Delta dome protector one final time, representing Thompson and the rest of the Eagles past and present."It's the last time I get to put on a Delta football helmet, and it's pretty special to put on that helmet," Morris said. "Friday night lights. To go down in your high school career with a victory, it's kind of that last chance to end your high school career happy."
Greenfield-Central (1-1) at Delta (1-1)
GAME TIME: 7:00 pm ET, Delta Stadium.
COACHES: Roger Dodson, 11-32 in 5th year at Greenfield-Central, 75-91 in 17th year overall. Grant Zgunda, 123-25 in 13th year at Delta, 160-37 in 18th year overall.
SAGARIN RATINGS: Delta, 66.85, 80th overall, 21st in Class 4A. Greenfield-Central, 47.32, 190th overall, 43rd in Class 4A.
LAST OUTING: Greenfield-Central lost to Pendleton Heights, 31-14, Aug. 27. Delta lost to New Palestine, 24-14, Aug. 27. OPPONENTS' RECORDS: Greenfield-Central 2-2, Delta 2-2.
SERIES LAST 15 YEARS: Delta, 14-0.
LAST MEETING: Delta, 35-3, Sep. 4, 2009
New Palestine 24, Delta 14
August 28th
NEW PALESTINE, Ind. -- The streak is over, and now Delta is playing from behind in the race for a Hoosier Heritage Conference title.
After 19 straight regular-season wins, the Eagles' streak came to an end Friday night on the road. Delta coach Grant Zgunda said it's the 0-1 start in conference play that bothers him more than his first regular-season loss since Oct. 12, 2007.
"That's not something we spend a lot of time talking about," Zgunda said of the streak. "The thing that is heartbreaking for us is that it's a conference game so now we are behind the 8-ball. We are 0-1. We set our goals to win championships.
The Eagles lost to New Palestine thanks in part to an inability to run the ball. Delta rushed 25 times for 75 yards for the game. And on defense, the Eagles allowed 54 New Palestine carries for 251 yards, an average of 4.6 yards per carry.
"In high school football, you better be able to run the ball, which we couldn't do," Zgunda said. "And you have to stop the run on defense, which we didn't do. If you're losing that battle -- and they didn't turn the ball over -- it's not pretty."
While New Palestine didn't cough up the ball once, Delta had four turnovers -- two lost fumbles and two interceptions.
The Eagles' two scores came on the ground.
In the first quarter, Austin Fuatavai pushed in from 4 yards out. And in the fourth quarter, Zach Overfield ran in from 2 yards out.
For the game, quarterback Ozzie Mann completed 11-of-27 passes for 182 yards with one pick. Senior Aaron Fry caught four balls for 77 yards.After opening the season with two straight road games, Delta returns home the next two weeks to face Greenfield-Central on Sept. 3 and Southside on Sept. 10.
Delta dominates Jay County in football season opener
By JESSE TEMPLE * jtemple@muncie.gannett.com * August 21, 2010
PORTLAND, Ind. -- What can be gleaned from a game that is over, for all intents and purposes only minutes after starting.
For coach Grant Zgunda and his
powerful Delta football team, the answer, frankly, was two-fold on Friday night
against Jay County."I'm sure that they aren't as bad as they appeared to be in the first half, and we're not as good as it appeared," Zgunda said.
Jay County can only hope Zgunda is right.
Class 4A No. 6 Delta opened its season with an absolute dismantling of outmanned Jay County, 58-7, in The Star Press Game of the Week. The Eagles scored all 58 of their points in the first half without giving up a point, leading to a decision to use a running clock in the second half.
The whitewash left both teams in a difficult spot as halftime neared. Delta continued sending out its starters offensively so they could receive enough repetitions to prepare for next week's clash with New Palestine -- defending Class 4A sectional champions just like Delta. Jay County, meanwhile, could do nothing to stop the Eagles' potent first-stringers. Delta scored touchdowns on seven of its eight first-half possessions and added a blocked punt for another score.
"We got some breaks with some fumbles and turnovers, and things went right," Zgunda said. "But I'm proud of our football team.We had a lot of guys that were new sprinkled in with some veteran guys. All you can do is go out and play hard, and I thought we executed pretty well for our first game."
Among the players who executed well while filling new roles were senior running backs Zach Overfield and Todd Fowler. In his first varsity game as Delta's main running back, Overfield registered nine carries for 97 yards in one half of play, scoring four touchdowns. His first TD, a misdirection 16-yard run down the left side of the field, put Delta ahead 7-0 just 1:34 into the game, helping to send the Eagles to their 19th straight regular-season victory.
"The running game was very physical," Overfield said. "Our line did a great job making holes for me and Todd. We expect to do this every week. Nothing changes. Just because it's Jay County, I think we can do it against any team."
The speedy Fowler carried the ball just twice, but he made them count. He scored on a 22-yard touchdown run on his first touch and scampered 25 yards on his next carry to set up one of Overfield's touchdowns. Fowler also recovered a punt in the endzone to put Delta ahead 14-0 at the 8:17 mark of the first quarter.
Delta quarterback Ozzie Mann also shined, beginning his junior campaign with a solid outing by completing 7-of-10 passes for 101 yards and two touchdowns. His main target was senior Garrett Zgunda, who caught five balls for 62 yards and a score. Wide receiver Aaron Fry caught the other touchdown pass on a five-yard strike.
On Jay County's side of the ball, things weren't nearly as smooth.
The Patriots struggled, in part, because they entered the evening with zero varsity game experience under first-year head coach Steve Boozier's new option-running system. And it certainly showed on Friday night.
Jay County gained just 39 yards rushing in the first half while being penalized for 60 yards. Sophomore quarterback Brock McFarland did not complete a pass in the first half, going 0-for-5 with one interception thrown to Delta defensive back Jake Bryan.
It wasn't until 1:30 remained in the fourth quarter that the Patriots finally managed a score. Running back Blake Crouch punched into the end zone from three yards out against Delta's backups, ending the shut out.
Boozier maintained a sense of optimism -- and a sense of humor -- about his team, even on a night when the Patriots suffered their worst loss since a 70-13 defeat against Indianapolis Cathedral on Oct. 6, 2006.
"We're in no way shape or form panicked," Boozier said. "Now, if these kids had been running this system three or four years and it looked like that, I'd be ready to jump off the back of the stadium. But we'll be fine."
Catch Delta Football Highlights on YouTube!
http://www.youtube.com/user/deltaonlinevideos
Delta grad Logan Young settling in with Indiana University football team
By JESSE TEMPLE jtemple@muncie.gannett.com July 21, 2010
Logan Young's football career at Indiana University got off to an inauspicious beginning in his first few days on campus last month. In fact, it's safe to say those initial workouts really couldn't have gone much worse.Shortly after arriving in Bloomington on June 15 for basic orientation and acquainting himself with his new football teammates, Young returned to his dorm and detected a scratching, sore feeling when he swallowed. He'd been there less than 12 hours, and already he had developed strep throat.
"I went to the work out the next day and I felt like crap," Young said. "That was easily the worst day and the worst weekend since I've been here. Definitely got off to a bad start."
Fortunately for Young, life has been considerably better at IU since that week -- even if he's had to endure a difficult trek back to full strength.
The Delta graduate and IU football commit is on campus early, taking summer courses, working out with the team and preparing for his freshman season. And in his first month with the Hoosiers, he's had to wait for his body to recover from illness, all while learning just how big of an intensity leap exists between the high school and collegiate levels of football.
"I've probably thrown up after 80 percent of the lifts and workouts," Young said on the phone while resting in his dorm room after a workout last week. "That's how hard they are. It's ridiculous. ... I don't know if part of the reason I've been throwing up a lot is getting over sickness from when I got here. This week, I haven't really done it near as much. But last week and the previous week I did a lot."Of all the workouts, Young cited his Thursday session as the most difficult. The workout entails a series of squats in the weight room before heading outside to do three more sets involving the legs.
"I've never been through a harder workout," Young said. In his senior season at Delta in 2009, Young made 72 receptions for 1,529 yards -- good for 21.2 yards per catch -- and 15 touchdowns to earn a spot on the Associated Press Class 4A All-State Offensive Team. He was the only Delaware County football player to be named first-team all-state in any class.
In the final game of his Delta career, a 49-20 defeat against Fort Wayne Dwenger in a Class 4A regional playoff, Young reeled in 10 catches for 209 yards and two scores. Delta closed its season at 12-1 for the second straight year.
Young said that, despite the early setbacks last month, his decision to attend Indiana in June was the right one.
"We work out, lift, we have two classes and study tables. It's a really busy time," Young said. "But the guys down here are really cool. I've gotten to know a lot of them already. I'm definitely glad I came early."
Young certainly has a long list of talented receivers at Indiana from which to learn. And because of the sheer breadth of talent at wide receiver for the 2010 season, Young said he anticipated red-shirting, although the possibility remains that he could play sparingly this year.
Among the most highly skilled returning wide receivers is junior Tandon Doss, who led the Hoosiers in receptions in nine games and receiving yards in eight games last year, totaling 72 catches for 962 yards and five touchdowns overall. Doss was selected first-team All-Big Ten by conference media members last season for his performance.
Other key wideouts returning for Indiana are junior Damarlo Belcher (61 catches for 770 yards) and senior Terrance Turner (46 catches for 443 yards).
"I'm the only freshman wide receiver here right now," Young said. "It's pretty much all the starting receivers and me. So I'm getting a chance to work out with those guys a lot, which is good. It's been a pretty fun time."
According to Young, the Hoosiers' coaching staff wants to use six wide receivers in the rotation, and Young very well could earn the sixth and final spot.
"But I don't want to play if I don't have to," Young said. "We're most likely going to lose two, three receivers next year. Then I'll have four years of solid playing time instead of wasting one year and getting in a couple plays a game."
In the short time he's been on the Hoosiers' practice field, Young said he had learned plenty from the experienced receiving corps.
"They don't run a route that I ran in high school," Young said. "All their routes are so much different than the ones I ran. The sets. Yardage. The way you cut.
"In high school, I could get away with rising on a cut. I have to keep my eyes level, not get choppy steps. Every time I think I run a good route, Terrance or Tandon will come up to me and be like, 'Nah, you rose up too much.' They know their stuff. They've been all over me about my routes, which is good. So I want to work on that to have a chance of playing."Indiana begins its season at home against Towson on Sept. 2.
Delta player set for all-star football game
By JESSE TEMPLE jtemple@muncie.gannett.com July 16, 2010
MUNCIE -- Kegan Morris figured he owed this favor to Jim Thompson.
For 24 years, Thompson had been synonymous with the offensive line aspect of Delta football, coaching the big boys in the trenches, teaching his players proper technique and pushing them to be better. And, more often than not, they were better because of him -- including Morris, a co-captain for the Eagles last season.Yet through all of the program's success, particularly over the last decade that included five sectional titles, none of Thompson's offensive linemen had earned a coveted spot in the prestigious North-South All-Star Football Game.
In fact, not since 1978 had Delta produced a true offensive lineman in the game, when Mike Tschuor competed as a member of the North team.
So of course Morris, one of the more skilled true offensive linemen in recent Eagles history, wanted to be that player to finally break Thompson's streak.
In early March, he discovered he'd done just that."When I found out, that was such a surreal feeling," Morris said. "I grew up watching Coach Thompson coach the offensive line. It's a dream. I'm his first offensive lineman to go, so I'm kind of happy to be that first one. But I'm hoping he's proud, too."
Thompson sure is.
Morris is the only player from Delaware County who was selected to compete in the North-South contest. The game will be at 7 p.m. today at North Central High School in Indianapolis. "I kept thinking sooner or later, I'm going to stay in this game long enough that I'm going to have a lineman get in this game," Thompson said. "Kegan kind of fulfilled that wish. So I can scratch that off my list. ... A lot of people overlook the linemen. So it's a special opportunity or him to get that kind of recognition."The 6-foot-5, 275-pound Morris helped anchor an offensive line that paved the way for two All-State running backs in Kyle Stevens and Greg Heban in 2008. During the 2009 campaign, Morris and the O-line created gaps for 1,000-yard rusher Teddy Dawson.
"The last two years, he's been without question our best offensive lineman," Thompson said. "The guy we go to when we need a first down and we need to make a play. At times, we can look at film and he's just dominant in the fourth quarter."
Delta won sectional championships with perfect 12-0 marks before falling to Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger in each of the past two seasons. And Morris clearly was largely responsible for that success, even if few people outside of the Delta program were aware of his talents.
"Kegan never got enough credit for everything he did," said former Delta teammate Logan Young, an Indiana University football commit. "We wouldn't have had the team we had the past two years if it wasn't for his leadership. He's definitely one of the most underrated linemen in Indiana."
Morris, along with the rest of the North and South players, has been staying since Sunday in Cory Bretz Hall on the campus of the University of Indianapolis, as each team prepares for the all-star game.
On Monday, the teams held three practices, while the rest of the days have featured two practices. While one team is practicing, the other is in team meetings. On Monday, meetings began for the North squad at 8 a.m. The final team meeting didn't end until 10 p.m.
The week also included a trip to the Indiana football hall of fame in Richmond on Tuesday, a visit to Camp Riley in Indianapolis to assist kids with physical disabilities on Wednesday and a banquet for the all-star players at Primo in Indianapolis on Thursday.
Morris, who will play football in the fall for Saint Francis University in Fort Wayne, said he was enjoying the entire week, particularly the opportunity to compete against the top players in the state.
"It's definitely a lot different from going up against your normal high school kids," Morris said. "These guys, a couple of them are going Big Ten. I'm not used to that. It's a new experience. It's pretty neat."
Among the Division I players involved in the game are three Ball State signees from Indiana. Defensive back Jeffrey Garrett (Ben Davis), running back Phil Dudley (Ben Davis) and tight end Garrett Mack (Center Grove) are representing the South all-star team.
If the all-star experience wasn't enjoyable enough for Morris, he can also look forward to receiving one final opportunity to showcase his high school today. Each player at the all-star game wears his high school helmet, which means Morris will strap on the yellow Delta dome protector one final time, representing Thompson and the rest of the Eagles past and present."It's the last time I get to put on a Delta football helmet, and it's pretty special to put on that helmet," Morris said. "Friday night lights. To go down in your high school career with a victory, it's kind of that last chance to end your high school career happy."