Sports

Seniors Lead The Way For The 2013 Colonial Footballers

Morristown football looking for on field success to match their off the field academics.

Written by Mike Drake

Several of the senior players on the Morristown Colonials 2013 football team were called up as freshman at the end of the 2010 season when the Colonials won a championship at MetLife Stadium with a 40-6 trouncing of Nutley HS.  That experience has left a burning desire to win again.  One that they can claim as their own. They remember the thrill of playing in MetLife Stadium, and having the whole Morristown Community celebrate their success. This season, head coach, Chris Hull will again have an experienced, senior loaded squad, hungry to get back to winning again after a disappointing 2012 rebuilding year.

Whatever their final record is, one thing is for sure, that this is one of the strongest academic teams in MHS history. This year’s starting offensive line averages an incredible weighted GPA of 4.01.  The Colonial lineman are honors students, taking AP classes with plans to go on to some of the finest schools in the nation like Stanford, Yale, Cornell and MIT.  Head Coach Chris Hull has always stressed academics and this year’s team is loaded with student’s whose strengths lie in the classroom as much as on the ball field.  6’3”, Senior TE Joey Murphy, and 6’0, 212 lb. offensive guard, Ben Hoshal are fine examples of the types of student athletes that represent Morristown HS.  Murphy is planning on majoring in Math at either Stanford or Yale, while Hoshal wants to study engineering at MIT.  Senior tackle, 6’1”, 250 lb., Brandon Blaise is being actively recruited by Cornell, Princeton, Yale and Johns Hopkins, and seniors, 6’, 240 lb. Brian Bishop; 6’, 210 lb., Chris Drake, 5’8”, 205 lb. Freddy Ruiz and 6’, 210 lb. junior Anton Buchner are all honors students with GPAs hovering at or close to 4.0.

In addition to academics, the strength and leadership of the team will come from its veteran lineman.  Head coach Chris Hull said “I want the seniors to lead, that’s the voice I want to direct this team.  These senior lineman are outstanding students with excellent work habits.  They’ve done a great job all year round, in the classroom, in the weight room and on the field.  Every year, someone rises up to lead either the right way or the wrong way.  This year we have this fine group of senior linemen, who lead by example on and off the field, so I believe we are in very good shape.” On the field, the Colonials should control the line of scrimmage.  Blaise is especially athletic and is not only the strongest, but he is also one of the quickest players on the team.  At 6’5”, 265 lbs., Nick Sachs is the Colonials’ biggest lineman and he anchors the middle of the defensive front four, along with Bishop.   Buchner and Ruiz are versatile enough to play defensive line as well as inside linebacker.

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Strong armed, junior quarterback, Dallas McCall will throw to some quick receivers led by wide out sophomore, Ricky Lorenzo, senior, AJ Tracy, and senior tight end Joey Murphy.  Junior, Jordan Powell, a 6’ 1” 190 lb., shifty speedster, and senior Danny Supple, a classic downhill runner and a golden gloves boxer, will be the feature backs.  Senior fullback, 6’, 190 lb. Justin Danielsen, and 5’11”, 190 lb., Trey Gwynn will lead the way for the Colonials ground game. Junior fullback/ linebacker, Alexis Villegas injured his knee, but is looking forward to possibly coming back this year.

The defense is led by inside linebackers, Danielsen, Ruiz, Gwynn and Buchner.  Outside line backing is manned by Joey Murphy and Danny Supple.  Jordan Powell roams the secondary at safety and seniors AJ Tracy and Justin Northern, sophomores Ricky Lorenzo and Jaime Wendell are the cornerbacks.

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Coach Hull stated "We play the best competition possible, when we scrimmage preseason: Top 20 Ridgewood, Madison, with the state’s longest winning streak, huge Group 5 Bayonne, and last year’s number 1 preseason team, Elizabeth.  I believe we’ve taken a lot of strides, but we have a long way to go.  This team is hungry and driven.  With our senior leadership and their work ethic, we will continue to improve throughout the season.”

Coach Hull reiterated that the Colonial’s biggest strength will be the offensive line, “They’re not just experienced, they’re big, they’re athletic, they’re driven and we know they’re smart."

Now we’ll see if they can leads us to repeating the success that they enjoyed as freshman and win another championship with a return to MetLife Stadium.

Editor's Note: This was written by Mike Drake and submitted by the Morristown High School Boosters Club. We encourage prospective sports writers to blog on Patch. For more information, send an e-mail to Russ.Crespolini@patch.com.


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