High school football: Morgan hopes to get off to a better start this season

MORGAN — By the time the high school football playoffs rolled around last October, the Morgan Trojans were deceptively playing some of the best football in 3A. No one really noticed though because the Trojans had a brutal preseason which included four straight losses at one point.

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.

The Trojans return six starters on both sides of the ball this year, including junior starting quarterback Matt Largeant. His emergence at quarterback last fall had as much to do with Morgan's turnaround as anything else.

"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.