Morfe a large presence for Pirates

WW-P South senior is leader on football field

By: Bob Nuse
   It wasn’t all that long ago that Brendan Morfe was the new kid on the football field.
   "When I started sophomore year I was out there with four seniors who had a lot of experience," recalled Morfe, now a senior at West Windsor-Plainsboro South. "I was this new sophomore and they were all seniors who drove cars and had beards. They were so much older. I think back to those days and it’s so different now."
   Morfe doesn’t have a beard, but he is a senior that drives a car. And he’s established himself as not only a top-flight lineman on both sides of the ball, but a leader for the team as well.
   "He’s always hustling and working hard in practice," said South coach Tom Stuart, whose team will host Trenton 11 a.m. Saturday in its Homecoming Day game. "He’s a leader on the field and someone the other kids look up to. He’s not just talk, but someone who leads by example.
   "It would be nice to have a few more like him. He does a nice job and he continues to improve."
   Morfe has been a starter on the line since his sophomore year, the last two on both sides of the ball. This year, he’s helped anchor an otherwise inexperienced group of linemen to help the Pirates get off to a 2-2 start.
   "I’m enjoying being one of the captains," said the 6-foot-2, 270 pounder Morfe. "When I was a younger player I always had someone else to look up to. Now I have to be one of the spark plugs for the team. I realize that we only have five or six games left and you want to do the best you can possibly do. After that, it’s all over."
   While high school football might come to an end after this season for Morfe, he certainly has a fine college career ahead of him. He’s been sifting through the interest from college coaches and would certainly like to keep playing.
   "I definitely want to play football in college," said Morfe, who is also an outstanding heavyweight wrestler and may also make a return to the lacrosse field this spring. "I’ll probably wind up playing defense. You look at the size of the offensive linemen in college and they’re all 6-4 or 6-5. Defensive linemen are usually a little smaller and quicker."
   By college lineman standards he might just be small, but at his size Morfe certainly doesn’t look it and few opponents would call him small. He’s looking forward to the second half of the current season, beginning with this week’s matchup with Trenton.
   "We’ve been having good practices all week and I think we’re ready to play a good game," said Morfe, who along with his football teammates Ian MacQueen and Sean Edwards make up part of the Homecoming King contenders. "We still have a lot of football to play together and we’re looking forward to this next few games.
   "Trenton is a quick team. They’re not as big as some of the other Trenton teams, but they’re real quick."
   As a captain, Morfe hopes to do his part to have the team ready to play. It’s a role he takes very seriously.
   "I’m glad I was picked," he said. "People have always been able to come to me and ask me what they should do in certain situations. Now it’s more official. I see a captain as a step between the rest of the players and the coaches, almost like another coach."
   Whether it’s with his playing ability or his leadership ability, Morfe is a player the coaches at WW-P South simply love to have around.
   "When he started out as a sophomore he was out there with a lot of big guys," Stuart said. "Now he’s the big guy out there. He’s done the job very well for us. He’s going to help some program when he gets to college, no doubt about that.
   "He’s done the job for us on the offensive line and the defensive line. He’s the kind of kid that never wants to come out of the game."
   And with the way he plays, he’s the kind of kid the Pirates usually leave out on the field.