Superb sophomore: In Friday’s 20–13 victory over Central, Frankford’s Mikey Morell made plays with his arm and legs when his team needed them most. MARIA POUCHNIKOVA / TIMES PHOTO
On Friday afternoon, one of the best quarterbacks in Frankford football history took in his alma mater’s division game against Central on the sideline as a spectator. Tim DiGiorgio had to like what he saw from one of the youngest signal callers the hallowed program has ever seen.
Though lacking the pristine passes and gaudy numbers DiGiorgio posted in two record-breaking seasons from 2011–12, nobody can doubt sophomore Mikey Morell’s guts and mettle in grinding out a crucial 20–13 win over the Lancers. The victory improved Frankford’s overall record to 3–3; however, more importantly, Morell and those young, inexperienced 2014 Pioneers jumped to 3–1 in Public League Liberty play, proving the fact that no matter who is out there in between the lines, Frankford is still doing what it does best:
Win.
Morell rushed 17 times for 44 yards behind a bruising, determined offensive line and completed 3 of his 6 passes for 34 yards and the game’s opening touchdown. His play staked Frankford to an early 14–0 first-quarter lead, and, even more impressively, Morell shook off three turnovers to keep the chains moving in the second half after Central had closed the gap to 14–13. It wasn’t always pretty, but like many great quarterbacks who came before him, the youngster under center found a way to win.
“I’ve had a lot of confidence in myself since day one, and I’ve been fighting to be the starter of this team,” said Morell, who has shared QB duties with senior Randell Solis. “Week-by-week, my maturity and experience gets better, and I get better individually. I’m growing. I never put my head down. As a quarterback, you have to forget the mistakes you make and move on. If you can forget and do better things on the next possession, the mistakes won’t be remembered.”
Morell’s job was made more difficult when junior Ralph Hyland, the team’s leading rusher through six games, exited early with a groin injury after carrying the ball on the team’s first five offensive plays. The Pioneers, with virtually no starters remaining from last year’s dominant Public League Class AAAA championship squad, toughed it out following a hard-fought 20–14 loss to division-leading Simon Gratz the week before. It allowed Frankford to keep pace with Gratz with a huge game at John Bartram (also 3–1 in division play) looming on Friday at 3 p.m., keeping the Pioneers very much where not many thought they would be the second week of October — in playoff contention.
“Every team’s goal, especially Frankford, is to win the Public League championship no matter what,” Morell said. “We had doubters saying we wouldn’t win one game. Then when we did, people said we wouldn’t win two. Now you look at us, and we’ve won three. A couple weeks from now, I expect us to be in the playoffs and to get to the Public League championship game. And I expect us to win that game.”
Frankford head coach Will Doggett has experienced an inordinate amount of success in his first three seasons on the job, winning the last two league titles and appearing in the championship game his inaugural year. He had DiGiorgio for the first two campaigns, followed by Marquise Poston leading a senior-laden team in 2013.
Now, it’s Morell and a bunch of kids who don’t know any better that they aren’t supposed to be winning with all this youth and inexperience, a fact not lost on the proud head coach.
“They toughed it out, and it’s another small stride into us becoming a team,” Doggett said. “We made some physical errors, and our inexperience shows at times. I’d like to see more growth faster sometimes, but that’s just me being impatient. Then I take a breath and realize what I’m dealing with, a young group with not much experience. We have to teach and that’s what we’re doing.”
As for his extra-inexperienced quarterback, Doggett said that Morell is making tremendous strides as a sophomore in a pressure-cooker situation.
“Mikey’s got a very high football IQ,” Doggett said. “He doesn’t make a lot of mental mistakes. We put in a lot of plays for him to run, and we get into a good rhythm when he’s going right. He needs to get stronger, but I think he can be a good quarterback for us. He might not be the biggest guy, but he’s got a big heart. He took a good pounding and still did his job.”
Morell, all 5-foot-6 and 145 pounds of him, proved to be a gamer. Of his 17 rushes, five of them produced first downs in the second half, keeping the chains and clock moving. Defensively, Frankford answered the bell when Morell faltered, forcing four turnovers and never allowing the struggling Lancers to establish an offensive rhythm.
“It gives me a lot of confidence to know that if I do make a mistake and turn the ball over, my defense is going to pick me up,” Morell said. “We just move on and try to put up points on the next drive. Honestly, I think it motivates us every week when people say we aren’t the team from last year and never will be. We hear it all, and it’s in one ear and out the other. We’re on the road to prove everybody wrong.”
“It’s rewarding to see them come together and play the way they are,” Doggett added. “They’re leaving the ‘me’ stuff alone. We follow the acronym of FAMILY: Forget About Me, I Love You. That’s the attitude we have. This program has been around for 100 years, and it’s been successful a lot of those because guys have been willing to put in the work for each other and the program. That’s where these kids are starting to buy in, and we’re getting better each week as a result.”
If that trend continues, Doggett said he thinks the Pioneers will stay competitive for the remainder of the regular season and put themselves in a good position to win the program’s third straight title. And they’re doing so with a sophomore at quarterback, one who is already having the time of his life.
“It’s a lot of fun to know I’m one of the youngest quarterbacks to ever start here,” Morell said. “I know I’m not the most experienced player, but I’m just going to go out there and try to win for my team. I hate losing, and as a quarterback, you’re the leader of the team. You just do what you can the next play, and the play after that. That’s all that matters.” ••
