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Morris does it all for Grizz By DON HUNT For The Tidings The Ashland High football team may be a few years removed from its glory days, but if they can find more players like David Morris, they'll be back. Morris ran back an interception 32 yards for a touchdown last Friday, fueling the Grizzlies to a season-opening 20-13 victory over Pleasant Valley, Calif. Senior Ashland stand-out David Morris (right) snatches the ball out of a receiver's hand during Wednesday's defensive practice. For The Tidings/Roy Musitelli The game marked the official debut of new head coach David Coldiron, who noticed that Morris was a first-team, all-conference defensive back last season and now knows firsthand how valuable the 5-foot-10, 162-pound senior can be to the Grizzlies. "You talk to the other coaches here and they'll tell you that David Morris has been making big plays since he was in junior high," Coldiron says. "He's a good athlete and a great student of the game." It was more savvy than skill that earned Morris his game-winning touchdown. He read the eyes of Pleasant Valley quarterback Ryan Ratekin, stepped in front of a Viking receiver to pick off a sideline pass and then ran across the grain and weaved his way to the end zone. "I made a good break on the ball and he (Ratekin) basically threw it right to me," Morris says. The score came with 7:21 left in the game - plenty of time for Pleasant Valley to come back and tie or win the game. But Morris made sure they didn't, intercepting another pass after the Vikings had moved to the Ashland 48. Morris says Ashland is emphasizing defense more this season under Coldiron, and it's already paying dividends. The Grizzlies finished Friday's season opener with four interceptions and a fumble recovery. That's five takeaways, or nearly half the total of 12 that they collected all of last season. "He's (Coldiron) a young, upbeat guy and he's brought a new energy to our program," Morris says. "He saw on film that we weren't very good on defense last year and he's made it a priority to get better. "We're doing more tackling drills and that sort of thing." While defense is probably Morris' forte, he's a top-flight wide receiver as well. He finished as the sixth-leading receiver in the SOC last season with 31 catches for 477 yards and four touchdowns, and he had six catches for 44 yards in the Grizzlies' season opener. Morris teamed with Nick Palmesano to form one of the better receiving duos in the SOC last season. Palmesano has graduated, leaving Morris a marked man. "That's OK," he says. "It just makes me work harder." Morris has spent extra time in practice working with quarterback Logan Bishop, who has taken over for the graduated Bryan Clevenger. "I've been working on running crisper routes and making better cuts," Morris says. "I've got good quickness but not great speed, and so I've got to get every edge I can to get open." Morris knows all about the great Grizzly receivers of yore - players like Chad Cota, Matt Wells, Bobby Foot, Ryan Thomas, Cy Aleman, Brian Luman and Jay Kuester. "Growing up and watching those guys play, I always wanted to be a Grizzly receiver," says Morris, a straight-A student who will head to Brigham Young University next year. "It's a privilege." Morris would love to earn all-conference and all-state recognition like his predecessors, but more than anything, he would love for the Grizzlies to start winning again. "As long as we win, I couldn't care less how many yards, interceptions or tackles I get," Morris says. However, it's pretty obvious the two are related. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -