Football is all about family for Naperville North receiver Quinn Morris.
The 6-foot, 170-pound senior comes from a tight-knit family steeped in football tradition, but that’s not the only group Morris considers kin. The Huskies welcomed him with open arms when he transferred from Plainfield East.
“The team really brought me in really well and made me feel like one of them,” Morris said. “Just getting used to the new coaches and stuff, it’s been amazing.”
Morris was already familiar with some of his new teammates, particularly senior quarterback Jacob Bell and senior defensive lineman Donavan Howard.
“We played on the same youth-level team, so I’ve known him my whole life,” Howard said. “He’s always been a great player, so when I heard he was coming, I got really excited.
“It makes us way better in practice going against those guys every day. It really does.”
That’s because the Huskies (7-2), who will play Maine South (6-3) at home in the first round of the Class 8A playoffs at 6 p.m. Saturday, have yet to face a passing attack as potent as their own. Bell, a Ball State recruit, has thrown for 2,659 yards and a program-record 34 touchdowns, including five to different receivers in a come-from-behind 44-34 victory against Sandburg in the regular-season finale last week.
“Before I came over here, I was talking to Jacob, and he was like, ‘Bro, if you come, we’ll get you the ball. We’ll do our thing,’” Morris said. “Me and him have always had a connection, but I think it’s better this year.”
Morris said that connection was first made during workouts with Bell’s private quarterbacks coach, Greg Holcomb. Morris ran routes for the quarterbacks.
Few receivers run routes as crisply as Morris, who has 45 catches for 734 yards and a program-record 13 touchdowns. He has a knack for getting open and for catching passes even when he isn’t open.
“Quinn has probably the best body control and just overall ball skills I’ve ever seen,” Bell said. “He’s just so consistent adjusting his body.
“As long as I put it in the radius of him, he’s going to come down with it. So that’s just one of the perks of our receiver room. Everyone has their own little thing that is just different from each other. It gives me unlimited options as a quarterback. It’s really fun.”
Watching Morris is really fun. He had 110 receiving yards and two touchdown catches during the Huskies’ 24-21 loss to Naperville Central on Sept. 6, making leaping grabs despite blanket coverage.
Against Sandburg, Morris had four catches for 92 yards, including a 35-yard touchdown reception in which he beat a defender and then fully extended to haul in the pass from Bell.
“He’s just got unbelievable ball sense, right?” Naperville North coach Sean Drendel said after the game. “He finds a way to go get the ball and make big plays for us. He’s a special kid, and he’s a joy to coach.”
Morris has always found joy in playing football. His older brother Tyler, also a receiver, played on a state championship team as a freshman at Nazareth in 2018 and won a national title earlier this year at Michigan, where he famously caught a touchdown pass from J.J. McCarthy in the Rose Bowl.
“He’s taught me literally everything,” Quinn Morris said of his brother. “He watches my games online. He’ll go back and watch my film, tell me what I can change, tells me what to expect in high school and college. We talk every day.”
Morris credits his father, Michael, who played cornerback at Central College in Iowa, for practicing with him during the offseason. Morris has offers from six college programs, including Michigan and Minnesota, but he isn’t trying to surpass his brother.
“I try my best, but what he’s accomplished is kind of hard,” Morris said. “I’m just trying to do my own thing.”
Which is plenty good enough.
“He has a super-high ceiling,” Bell said. “He just has some intangibles that you can’t teach. He might not be the biggest guy or the fastest, but his ball skills and some of the things he can do with the ball is just really special.”
The Huskies, who have not won a playoff game since 2010, are trying to accomplish something special this season.
“We can accomplish a lot,” Morris said.” As you see, we have a killer offense. We can do what we need to do, so it’s just keeping that going and knowing that we can trust each other.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
