Seniors Cam Jordan and Cole Morin are making big plays on both sides of the ball for Leavitt this season. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal
TURNER — Camden Jordan and Cole Morin leave Leavitt’s opponents seeing double, whether it be on offense or defense.
Call it dose of double trouble.
The two seniors are a big presence on the gridiron — Jordan at 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, Morin at 6-5, 200 — and their skills match their statures.
“They’re two big, athletic kids, so it would be easy for them just to go out and just rely on that, but they don’t,” Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway said. “They study film, they get in the weight room, they’re good teammates, they get good grades. They’re just good all-around football players and student-athletes.”
Both players have been starting since they were freshmen (Morin on offense, Jordan on defense), but their roles have grown in the years since. Now it’s rare for either of them to come off the field.
The two have been playing together since third grade, Morin said. He’s stuck to the same positions for the most part, but Jordan said he’s played “basically every position except quarterback.”
Jordan has shown that versatility even more this year, with 21 catches for 430 yards and three touchdowns (plus a 2-point conversion catch), as well as 317 yards rushing on 36 carries, with four more scores and four 2-point runs.
“If he puts the ball in our hands, we can make plays, and he knows that,” Jordan said.
Morin hasn’t carried the ball, but he’s lined up at tight end and in the slot, bringing in 15 catches for 188 yards and five scores, as well as three 2-point catches.
“It would be nice just to have one, to be honest. But to have both, it certainly opens up what you can do offensively,” Hathaway said. “And they’re both real good blockers. It just gives you a lot of different ways to use them.”
The players and coach both noted that they’ve been a big help to junior quarterback Wyatt Hathaway.
“I think (our height is) nicer for Wyatt than it is for us. I mean, it’s easy for defenses to pick us up, too, though. It’s not like we’re not noticeable out there,” Morin said. “But it does help Wyatt, it gives him a little bit of a better look because we’re bigger targets on the field.”
Mike Hathaway said that not only does Morin’s and Jordan’s size help Wyatt Hathaway make plays, it adds another layer to an already potent offense.
“When you have a smaller quarterback it’s much more difficult to throw the ball over the middle,” Mike Hathaway said. “But when you have two tight ends that are that tall it gives Wyatt the ability to see them a little bit better than he might if they were 5-11 or six feet tall. So it opens up a little bit more of the field for him in the pass game, and certainly it gives us the opportunity to create some mismatches.”
Those mismatches also occur when the duo is on defense, lining up at defensive end. Jordan has 95 tackles, with 17 sacks, 31 tackles for loss, six passes defended, five forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. On the other side of the line, Morin has tallied 55 tackles, with seven sacks, 14 TFLs, six passes defended, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
“We know that our coaches put us in a good position, they know what they’re doing. And they wouldn’t put us there unless they had a bunch of confidence in us,” Jordan said. “So they’ll tell us when we can go or not, and they’re like, ‘You should be able to beat them.’ They don’t think anybody in the state can beat us one-on-one.”
As if all those numbers weren’t impressive enough, Jordan also has blocked five kicks.
“They just tell us to go (after the kick) every time,” Jordan said. “I feel like we’re the only ones going most of the time, but if they tell us to go, I’m going to give it 110 (percent) every time.”
“Most of the time I don’t even go, I wait and jam,” Morin said. “I know he’s going to make the play. I’ll wait for the blocked punt return.”
Those “momentum plays,” as Hathaway calls them, seem to be prevalent when Jordan and Morin are around the ball, and it’s no surprise to the coach.
“There’s the old statement that ‘big-time players make big plays in big games,’ and that’s been those two all year,” Hathaway said. “They’ve been a part of that.”
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