High school football: Morgan hopes to get off to a better start this season
Those early struggles went away once Region 11 play started as Morgan finished second to Logan and losing a first-round heartbreaker to eventual 3A runner-up Judge in overtime.
For a traditionally strong program, Morgan's two-faced season was perhaps predictable with a new coach who opted to alter the offense pretty significantly in his first year.
With a year under everyone's belt, that shouldn't be a problem any more.
"I expect to be better. We'll have a system in place. We won't have to learn a whole bunch of new things, although we're tweaking the offense a little," said Morgan coach Kovi Christiansen. "I think they'll be more comfortable. They know my expectations and I know a little better what to expect out of them. So we'll be a little more comfortable with each other, and I hope it will lead to a few more wins in the preseason."
Morgan's five preseason games are exactly the same as last year, and it begins on Aug. 22 at Juab.
"He came in there and he didn't make any huge mistakes. He was even keel, and for a sophomore he was really poised," said Christiansen. "That's what I was most impressed with. He just read our offense and played within himself."
He started Morgan's last six games and finished with a 4-2 record as a sophomore. He's poised to have an even better season this fall running Morgan's modified option offense.
Christiansen acknowledges that running the football will once again be his team's strength, but he doesn't want to become predictable. He said like most coaches, he'd like to have a 50-50 ratio with his play calling.
Largeant has a fantastic core of running backs behind him, including seniors Ben VanCampen and Dayton Smith, along with junior Jake Kinsey.
Without a single returning starter on the offensive line, the Trojans may still struggle a bit in the preseason. He's hoping extra attention in the weight room will pay off.
"This group of seniors is a good group," he said. "We've had more people in the weight room than we've ever had, which for us because that is kind of where we got beat a few games last year."
Junior lineman Chase Davis is one of those players who may benefit from the extra work in the weight room. A towering lineman, he represents what could be Morgan's biggest collection of lineman in quite some time, but they lack any varsity experience.
Recent comments
I couldn't agree with you more
agreed | Aug. 24, 2008 at 6:55 p.m.
The preseason games are the same, but on opposite fields from last…
Big Papi | Aug. 11, 2008 at 10:34 a.m.
