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Thursday, January 25, 2018
It was easy to write off Jackson boys soccer entering the fall.
Sure, the Indians would still have some talent, but after graduating key pieces at all levels of the field from a team that won more than 20 games and earned its first district title in five years, there was nowhere to go but down.
The players coming back, however, had no intention of playing into that narrative, and that intention was embodied in the 6-foot-3 frame of central midfielder Desmond Morris.
"I feel like a lot of people thought we would have a down year, but we didn't want that to happen," Morris said. "We wanted to prove everyone wrong. ... That was our goal. That's what we worked toward."
All-Missourian Soccer - Desmond Morris - Jackson
BEN MATTHEWS ~ bmatthews@semissourian.com
And accomplished.
The Indians finished with a 17-6 record and another district championship -- inconceivable even into the final seconds -- to claim back-to-back trophies.
In a season that perhaps exceeded some expectations and most certainly surpassed the drama threshold of even the most poised fan, Morris led the way.
The senior scored 29 goals and compiled 10 assists and, most importantly, revealed a knack for making the big plays at the big moments in a campaign filled with them.
It was a performance that earned Morris the title of 2017 Southeast Missourian Boys Soccer Player of the Year.
"I think the biggest thing was just that Desmond does not like to lose," Jackson coach Zack Walton said. "He is extremely competitive and wants to do everything and anything in his power to win a game. When you're down a goal or need a goal, that's when his competitive edge kicks in, and it's, 'Gosh, I do not want to lose this game at all.'
"Then you take an athlete and put a ball in the (18-yard) box and tell him to go get it, you're going to get some goals and break some teams' hearts."
In 2017, Morris left a trail of splintered pieces behind him.
Jackson's Desmond Morris, right, works the ball against Poplar Bluff's Ethan Tucker during the second half Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017 in Jackson.
Fred Lynch
Drama unfolds
There are so many moments to pick from, but one stands out to Morris.
On Oct. 11, Jackson found itself putting together an all-but-invisible performance against rival Notre Dame with the SEMO Conference title up for grabs. The Bulldogs had grabbed a 5-1 lead by halftime and were well on their way to a major victory and the joyous feeling of taking it at the expense of the Indians.
Jackson had defeated Notre Dame 1-0 earlier in the season to claim the Notre Dame SportsFest, thanks to a Morris header off a corner kick, but in the game that really mattered, the Bulldogs were having their way. Until Morris had his.
The midfielder came alive, scoring three times in the second half to finish with four goals and spark his team's comeback, which culminated with a game-winning strike with seconds remaining in a second overtime period for a 6-5 final.
Jackson's Desmond Morris (17) celebrates with teammates after heading in the winning goal against Seckman during the second half of the Class 4 District 1 championship Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017 in Cedar Hill, Missouri.
Fred Lynch
"Especially 5-1, being down four goals, we just felt like, 'We've been here before.' More times than we'd like to be," Morris said. "We just kept that in our mind."
The Indians had been there before. On Sept. 5, just days after beating Notre Dame the first time, Jackson was in a 3-0 hole in the first half at Farmington. Morris had two goals and an assist, as his side barely blinked and played its way back to a 6-4 victory.
And the biggest was yet to come.
On Oct. 26 in the Class 4 District 1 championship at Northwest High School, the Indians again allowed themselves to fall into a big hole, trailing top-seeded Seckman 3-1 at halftime. And the clock began to tick on Jackson, which got inside the final 20 minutes of the game still down by a pair of goals.
Surely a comeback of that sort was not in the cards against a team the quality of Seckman.
But in the 62nd minute, the Indians pulled within a goal, then tied things up with just 103 seconds remaining.
With overtime beckoning, Justice Crosnoe hurled his signature long throw-in from near midfield into the 18-yard box. Any sort of clearance by Seckman would have likely earned the final whistle of regulation and sent the game to overtime, but that's not what happened.
In the 80th minute, with a championship on the line, Morris rose above the crowd, even above the goalkeeper, and sent a glancing header into the back of the net.
In the biggest moment of the season, the senior had done it again.
"The ball goes out of bounds, and we're tied. And I just told Justice to get in the box, and I'll make a play," Morris said.
"... I didn't really know (what to feel).. I was just so excited when it happened. It went in the back of the net, and everyone was cheering. It was just a great feeling."
All-Missourian Soccer - Desmond Morris - Jackson
BEN MATTHEWS ~ bmatthews@semissourian.com
Filling the void
Walton thought he saw potential in Morris from early in his high school career.
"I think back a little bit almost to his sophomore year," Walton said, "and I remember talking to another coach and going, 'Man, he's come a long ways and is really developing. It's going to be tough to keep him off the field.'"
It turned out not to be so hard, in fact. Shortly after he went down in practice with a broken arm and missed the rest of his sophomore season, Morris' impact on the soccer field was put on hold.
When Morris came back for his junior season in 2016, he quickly slid into a lineup that featured some talented upperclassmen and allowed him to find his way without a glaring spotlight. The returns were positive.
"As a junior, really we were just putting him in the middle because of his vision," Walton said. "We had some playmakers, and he had three pieces up top he could play the ball to. Last year, we asked him to sit in a little defensively, play good defense and then distribute. Get the ball up top, and let those guys go at players."
That formula was extremely effective. The Indians were a deadly attacking team with Liam Gray and Crosnoe on the wings and Josh Scholl putting together a season up top that earned him 2016 Southeast Missourian Player of the Year honors.
But the Indians graduated a lot of dynamism after bowing out to St. Louis University High in a sectional to cap the 2016 season. When the curtain lifted on a new season, it was Morris stepping into that void.
It turned out that even with the turnover, Morris helped smooth the transition by becoming a tremendous contributor in the attacking third.
"I was surprised because I've been playing with him for a long time, and he's always been the guy who usually just assists everybody. And he took the role this year of, 'I'm going to go score. I'm going to make things happen,'" senior center back and longtime teammate Grayson Ward said. "And he did that all season long.
"I think part of it is just the attitude that, 'I'm going to go as hard as I can,' and he wants to win as bad as anyone on the field. His skills -- he's always been just a really skilled player -- but that comes from ... working hard. That's where it comes from."
Morris proved that he had the ability to be the team's focal point both in the buildup and in finishing. Tall, long and calm on the ball, the multi-sport athlete -- a two-year starter in Jackson's basketball backcourt as well -- provided a box-to-box central midfield presence that could contribute on both ends of the field. Walton points to his vision and ability to win balls in the air as two of his defining characteristics. They helped him earn honorable mention all-state honors in Class 4.
"He sees the field really well, and I think that's what makes him such a good midfielder," Walton said. "That probably goes hand in hand with basketball. ... He can see the soccer field and can pass and distribute the ball so well.
"Coming into the year, there's always a little bit of a question of how players are going to progress from one year to another and how they're going to fill that role. ... We knew he could distribute the ball, but we didn't really see him win a ton of balls in the air last year. But we knew he had that capability. To see him come in and take over, 'All right, when the ball is in the box, I've got to get in and make play."
He did it often for the Indians, with a flair for the dramatic that left behind its mark and another trophy.
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