Moline Maroons 2021 Football Preview
by Joe Winkel @JoeTheShowQCSN
The Moline Maroons had an interesting Spring campaign for the “2020” Western Big 6 football season. A team that had competed at the top of the conference for the first 3 seasons under Head Coach Mike Morrissey had almost an entirely new lineup going into the shortened spring season.
There were plenty of ups and downs for the Maroons during the spring, and plenty of growing pains for a roster that was inexperienced and constantly shuffled new starters in and out due to injury. The one thing that was a constant for Moline though was that they were competitive. In their 6 game slate, they led in 5 of the 6, had 4th quarter leads in 4 of those 5 games (were tied in the 5th) and 2 of their 4 losses were in overtime to Alleman and at the gun vs the conference champion Sterling Golden Warriors. Rallying to win 2 of their final 3 games to end the season, the Maroons look to back that experience into regaining their spot near the top of the league in 2021.
“We are fortunate to have a lot of guys back with varsity experience this fall. Some were put into that role in the spring before they were truly ready but developed over the course of the spring and started to feel more comfortable with the speed of the game.” Coach Morrissey said in regards to the carry over from the end of the spring season into the start of the fall.
Moline has multiple key players back, as stated earlier, but none bigger than the pair of QB Alec Ponder and all around superstar Matthew Bailey. Ponder led the Western Big 6 in passing yards during the spring and Bailey was near the top of the league in receiving and also played QB, RB, and was a dominant force in the secondary on the defensive end. Ponder was huge in the final 3 weeks of the season, especially a 400 yard game against Galesburg and another huge performance against Geneseo in their final game of the year. “Alec is a gamer!” proclaimed Morrissey when asked about his star QB. “We joked around that if he had been that consistent in practice early on we would have gone to that system much earlier! But we have to keep in mind that everything was new to him when he got to Moline. Once he got comfortable with terminology and reads he really started to build confidence mentally. He’s a really talented QB that can make any throw at any time.” Ponder will be at the center of attention (comes with the territory of the game’s most important position) for Moline this year, and the team might go as he goes, but make no mistake that he can win ball games on his arm talent alone. If games have shootout written on them, he can throw this team into a winning situation, and he will have multiple playmakers to disperse the ball for this offense to click.
Ponder can be the star for this team, but Moline has a true game changer in the other half of this two headed punch returning for the Maroon and White. Matthew Bailey is one of the most talented players, if not the most talented player in the conference. Bailey is a game wrecker and can do it from multiple positions. Whether he is going over a DB to make a spectacular catch, or coming down from the safety position to lay out a running back, Bailey can make highlight plays.
What Coach Morrissey likes the most, though? His effort and leadership combined with the standard he holds himself to.
“Matthew is a very talented player but he’s also committed himself in the weight room and as a multi-sport athlete which I feel has helped him tremendously. He’s as competitive a young man as I’ve ever been around and has the ability to change a game on any given play. Our expectations of him are the same as always, a total effort every time he steps on the field. He already holds himself to an extremely high standard and he’s developed as a leader of this team both on and off the field. That’s as important as anything to our success this fall is to have a lead by example type of player, who also happens to be one of the most talented in the program.”
This team has one of the highest ceilings in the Big 6 this season. They have a lot of skill and the team had some valuable moments in the spring to learn and grow from. Can that translate into results? Coach Morrissey was ecstatic when talking about the improvements his guys have made from the end of spring to now. He feels a lot of players are ready to make that next step to contribute to a winner.
“Our guys up front on both sides of the ball didn’t get much credit last year because of our struggles at times but they were all young guys who have improved. Caleb Singleton is a Jr Nose Guard that we feel can be a factor defensively. Nate Parker, Mark Runkle and Noah Mahieu were all starters on the OL as sophomores and showed some really good things in the spring at times. Christian Raya is a Jr LB that had to play last year and is always around the football. Grant Sibley is a young man that we’ve asked to do a lot for us as well. Played QB, WR, FS and CB last spring as a sophomore and is as tough as it gets. He’ll be a two way starter for us this fall. There’s a lot of young men that have committed to being great football players this off season, we’re excited to see who steps up!”
We’ll soon find out where the Maroons land when it comes to competing at the top of the league in 2021. One thing is for certain, this team will be electric and one of the most exciting teams to watch this fall. All that is left is to see if this team turns close losses into wins and they will be right back at the top of the conference sooner than later.