Season recap: Delonte Morton
The first test of Delonte Morton's return to the football field couldn't have gone much better.
The 6-foot-1, 250-pound running back had missed his junior season at DeMatha with a torn ACL, but reclaimed his spot in the Stags’ backfield for their season-opening win against Loyola in the I-95 Kickoff Classic at Towson University's Johnny Unitas Stadium.
“He played great that entire ballgame,” said DeMatha coach Bill McGregor. “He was a difference-maker. He rushed for [157 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries]. He ran hard, ran fast [and] broke a couple of runs.”
Morton, who committed to Maryland last spring, was on track for another big game the following week against Friendship Collegiate (D.C.), rushing for 45 yards and one touchdown on eight carries in less than a half of play. And then, on a second-quarter carry, bad luck struck Morton again.
“It was just a sideline tackle and he got twisted and couldn’t go,” McGregor said. “It was a bad high-ankle sprain. Those high ankles are a son of a gun. And he’s so big, it just took forever for him to get back on it.”
The rest of Morton’s senior season was a maddening routine of trying to practice but being relegated to the sideline with an injury that just wouldn’t go away.
“He was dying to get back from Day One,” McGregor said. “But there was nothing he could do. He’d come out, practice, run and try to practice, but it just wasn’t right. He was hobbling.”
Through all the frustrations and disappointment, McGregor said Morton stayed positive and supported the team. Finally, on Nov. 5 against Bishop McNamara, Morton was ready to return to the lineup. In limited action, the future Terp carried the ball five times for 35 yards. Against St. John’s the next week, Morton rushed for 14 yards and two touchdowns on four carries. And in DeMatha’s 42-3 loss to Good Counsel in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference title game, Morton picked up 47 yards on seven carries.
The final tally for Morton on the year was 40 carries for 298 yards and five touchdowns. DeMatha finished 9-3, leaving McGregor to wonder what might have been had Morton been at full strength for the entire season.
While Morton wasn’t 100 percent during the Stags’ last three games, he’s pretty much back to normal. Now the question becomes where he’ll fit in on the Terps’ roster next season.
“I think he’ll be a big back,” McGregor said. “If he doesn’t make it on offense, he’ll be a linebacker or a defensive end. He’s just a football player. You can tell with college coaches that they’ll bring him in and he can play either side of the ball. … He’s big, strong, athletic and everything you want in a football player. He just has a great upside.”
