Stable of youth: Sophomores contributing to Mustangs' postseason run
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| Matt McDonnell, Dan Dennehey and Logan Kuehl (left to right) start for the Morrison football team as sophomores. The 12-0 Mustangs host 11-1 Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Class 2A semifinals. (Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@svnmail.com) |
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The message to Logan Kuehl was clear.
The Morrison sophomore would start the season as the varsity starter at right guard. His status as an underclassman would never be acceptable as an excuse for substandard play.
Twelve games later, Kuehl is still manning the position for the Mustangs, who play today for a trip to the Class 2A state championship game.
“They basically told me once I stepped out on the field, I wasn’t a sophomore anymore,” Kuehl said. “We’re all varsity players. We’re all the same. They told me I had to step up and do my job and they’d do theirs.”
Kuehl, along with fellow sophomore starters Matt McDonnell and Danny Dennehey, have been key players for Morrison, especially during the past month. Each will be counted on heavily as the Mustangs prepare for Saturday’s 2 p.m. semifinal against 11-1 Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley at Bud Cole Field.
The 5-foot-11, 185-pound Kuehl has mixed nicely with the four seniors that join him to form Morrison’s offensive line: tackles Zach Greul and Ryan Claeys, guard Kyle Patten and center Corey Modglin.
“I was kind of nervous starting the year,” Kuehl said. “The first couple of games I didn’t know how it would go compared to the sophomore level. After about the first three games, I was pretty comfortable playing there because we knew I had a good team around me to help out.”
Some serious offseason workouts helped Kuehl prepare for varsity ball. He was a regular in the weight room, where he bench-presses 330 pounds.
“He worked really hard in the offseason and he’s one of the strongest kids we’ve got,” Morrison coach Cory Bielema, “so that was kind of an easy choice to reward him.”
McDonnell began the season as a backup linebacker, but eventually worked his way into the lineup due a season-ending knee injury to noseguard Jobe House in Week 1 against St. Bede. The Mustangs went through a number of candidates before finally settling on McDonnell for good going into Week 6’s game at Amboy.
McDonnell first played the position against Marquette in Week 3, and impressed coaches like Bielema and assistant Gregg Dolan enough to earn the job full-time.
“The coaches liked what they saw, I guess you could say,” McDonnell said. “Mr. Dolan and Mr. Bielema asked me if I felt comfortable in there and I said yeah.”
McDonnell is 5-10, 180 pounds, but manages to create havoc against bigger opponents. He’s fourth on the team with 50 tackles, and has added three sacks and a fumble recovery.
“Quickness is my big thing,” McDonnell said. “I hit the center as hard as I can, try to get him out of the way so I can get around him and make some plays.”
Dennehey spent most of the season quarterbacking the sophomore team, to prepare him for varsity action at that position next year. Against Erie-Prophetstown in Week 8 and Fulton in Week 9, Dennehey was worked into the defensive backfield.
He struggled a bit in the first round of the playoffs against Deer Creek-Mackinaw, which completed some long passes. He improved the next two playoff rounds against Eastland-Pearl City and Orion.
“After the EPC game, that’s when I really thought I could do good at safety and actually make big plays,” said Dennehey, who has three interceptions. “I didn’t have a good first playoff game against Deer Creek-Mackinaw. The EPC game helped a lot.”
GCMS (11-1) at Morrison (12-0)
When: 2 p.m. Saturday
Where: Bud Cole Field
Radio: WSDR-AM (1240), WSSQ-FM (94.3)
