Articles In This Issue:

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QO Field Hockey - Worth Repeating!

RM's Football Coach Steve Forsythe - A Man With A Plan

NW's Williams - The Chase Is On

New NW Football Coach Andrew Fields

2007 Gaithersburg Football Preview

2007 R.Montgomery Football Preview

2007 Quince Orchard Football Preview

2007 Northwest Football Preview


 

COVER STORY 

For Cougars QB Morrison – “It Was Worth The Wait!”

For two seasons, Cougars’ senior quarterback Jaron Morrison stood on the sidelines next to Head Coach Dave Mencarini as the team’s backup quarterback.

Playing time was limited to mop-up duty during blow out victories and providing starter Pepper Coe with an occasional breather.

He was talented enough and possessed the skills to contribute to the team, but coach Mencarini wanted Morrison’s focus to be completely on the quarterback position.

“It wasn’t easy standing on the sidelines most of the game,” Morrison said adding, “Coach always reminded me that I was only one play away from being “The Man” and I took that responsibility seriously.”

Now he is “The Man” – the starting quarterback for one of the highest ranked teams in the metropolitan area and the favorite to win the Maryland 4A State Championship – and he always knew his day would come.

“I prepared every week (for those two years) as if I were the starter, it was a mind set and an approach that worked for me.”

This summer, in preparation for the upcoming season, he attended a Quarterback Camp to work on his mechanics, leadership skills, reading defenses and footwork.

Although the skills he brings to the position of quarterback have far less to do with his arm, and more to do with his athletic ability and foot speed, the proactive

Morrison is preparing for the moment the Cougars will have to rely on his passing to win a game.

“There comes a time when every team going after a championship has to do something out of character,” Morrison said in reference to the multi-talented backfield the Cougars utilize as their primary offensive focus. “If we are fortunate enough to make a run at a title, and we find ourselves behind in a critical game, I have to be a passing threat for us to achieve our goals.”

 The one thing Morrison has focused on as a team leader for the Cougars this season is developing team unity.

“We need to become a closer team and learn to depend on each other. Many of us worked out together during the off-season (lifting and running) which helped,” he said.

He continued his thought by emphasizing that “unity will lead to consistency in play”, thus avoiding a problem that has plagued this very talented program for several years.

“We need to go after teams hard on every play of every game, no matter the opponent. We went into games (as heavy favorites) thinking teams would lay down and allow us to walk all over them because we were the “ranked” Quince Orchard Cougars, and in many of our games we had to battle our opponents for all four quarters.”

As the interview with Morrison ended, he shared the team’s battle cry for 2007, appropriately titled “Pound the Rock and Finish!”