The Future of Morristown Football

The seniors are preparing for somber goodbyes to Morristown football, but what about the future of the program? This year's freshman team is “really special,” according to Gregory Solomon, who coaches the freshmen team along with Pedro Aragon and Ian Havran. “I love these guys and they love each other which has created a dynamic that is impossible to fake or replicate.” This is incredibly impressive considering the freshmen are new to both high school football and each other. The team has only been practicing together at a high school level since the summer and yet they seem to be almost as close as the seniors.

This “really special” team is bound to possess some incredibly special players. The two that Coaches Aragon and Ian put emphasis on when discussing the teams success in the pass game this year were quarterback James Dzikowski and receiver Jasiah Brown. Aragon praised Dzikowski as a “quarterback who can really throw it well,” mostly targeting Brown because “when you have a weapon like Jasiah, it’s just incredible what you can do,” as Coach Ian remarked. Along with the incredible abilities of Brown and Dzikowski, Aragon also credited the offensive line’s ability to “protect the quarterback enough to get the ball out on time.” On the other side of the ball, Solomon commented on the team’s strength on defense and their aggressive mentality of “knowing it will be a tough battle and never being afraid of what is in front of us.” All three coaches mostly attributed their overall success to the closeness of the team. Coach Ian summed it up perfectly when he said, “a very closely knit group is a big recipe for success.”

2022 Freshman Football Team

This “closely knit group” has accomplished a lot for the coaches to be proud of, but most of all just their general growth as players. Aragon is proudest of their progression in the basics that lead to success in football, “route running, pass catching, run blocking…in general there has been a lot of growth.” Coach Solomon struggled to choose a single accomplishment to emphasize since “every accomplishment this season felt special and none should be overshadowed” but, being a defensive coach, he takes pride in “our back to back shutouts and our defensive efficiency all season.” Coach Ian commented specifically on the leadership in the linemen, influencing each other to practice “by hitting the sled by themselves, coaching each other up, pushing each other…it’s very amazing what they’re doing.” This growth as a team and the individual efforts to improve signify how the freshmen, an already incredibly talented group, have the potential to progress into an unstoppable team.

To fulfill this potential, they must continue to learn and improve next year and beyond. Coaches Solomon and Ian both emphasized the importance of taking practice seriously. Solomon compared football games to “a test in school, it is much easier if you pay attention and study your key information. As much as it is a physical game, the mental aspect of football is so important.” Due to the pure talent the freshmen team possesses, “the old saying ‘practice how you play’ doesn’t necessarily translate yet,” but, “practice could be far better and they have to take that more seriously in the future,” Coach Ian remarked. This lack of focus in practice could also be attributed to, as Aragon put it, “the nature of them being so young and a lot of them being new to football.” The coaches hope that as the freshmen grow and mature, focusing during the preparation for games will become a regular part of their routines.

For other aspects of the future, the coaches only hope for continued growth for individuals and maintaining their strong connection as a team. “I don’t know if there’s anything tangible but what I would like to see most is just to stay close as a class,” Coach Aragon said, putting emphasis on the importance of maintaining their unique closeness, especially through the unpredictability of the future. As long as they stay as close as they currently are, success will be achieved. Coach Ian provided the individual oriented advice of “going to the weight room… if some of them grow size-wise by going to the weight room a lot, they will see time and may contribute at the varsity level or, if not, start at the JV level and be prepared for varsity.” Coach Solomon is “not done with them yet!!” He is just “excited to see them grow over the next year and develop into better young men and players.” With their talent and close bond as a team, Solomon can only “hope they impact the program positively and build upon our first steps from this year.”

Even though the future for the freshmen team is uncertain, their progression, individually and as a group, is definitely something to be excited about. Coach Solomon builds great anticipation with his incredibly profound remark, “in my 7 years of coaching I have never felt anything like it.” All three coaches clearly take a great amount of pride in this team and truly believe they are something “really special.”