NORTHFIELD — Wearing No. 23 at Glenbrook South comes with a lot to live up to.
Brett Laurie donned that number en route to all-state honors last season as a senior.
Sophomore cornerback Daniel Morris had no hesitations about choosing No. 23 this year, however.
“It’s always been my number,” Morris said. “So I’m going to keep it.”
Morris is in a position similar to the one Laurie found himself during the 2011 campaign: Morris is starting for the Titans as a sophomore, in part because he has the physical tools to play against varsity receivers.
“He’s athletic,” Glenbrook South coach Mike Noll said. “He breaks on the ball the best of any kid in our program.”
Morris said Laurie served as an inspiration to him last season. He watched Laurie, who now plays defensive back at Holy Cross, take a starring role on both sides of the ball to lead the Titans to a 7-3 record in 2013.
“I think those younger guys [at defensive back] watch Brett play, and they want to be like that,” Noll said. “But Brett was the same way as a sophomore — a really good corner who’d break on the ball.”
Morris started getting ready for the current football season after basketball ended last winter, and he trained with Laurie during many of those sessions.
The pair worked together in Glenbrook South’s fieldhouse, with Laurie preparing for college football and Morris working to become his replacement. They ran together, Morris said. Laurie also showed him some new things.
Laurie was particularly helpful with tackling, Morris added. Morris is undersized for a varsity cornerback. He’s listed at 5-8 and 150 pounds, and tackling — especially trying to bring down wide receivers and running backs who are bigger, stronger and faster than those he was accustomed to — was one of the big adjustments he’s had to make as a varsity defender.
Morris has used Hawk tackling — where a player hits with his shoulder, wraps up and then twists the opposing player to the ground — at times this year.
“I’m doing pretty good at [tackling],” he said.
There are still areas for Morris to improve. After he had an uneventful game against New Trier — the Trevians beat Glenbrook South 49-24 in a Central Suburban South game on Friday — Morris said he’d like to develop throughout his high school career like Laurie did.
“He’s got to get stronger. He’s got to get faster,” Noll said. “He’s like everybody else [in that regard], but he’s had a pretty good season for a sophomore. … He’s starting at a really good place. He’s going to be a good one.”
