Winning Title Has Ring of Appeal to Hawthorne’s Morgan : Division III: After spending much of 1992 season on scout team, the senior has been instrumental in Cougars’ 12-1 season.

Another Friday night and Omarr Morgan was sitting in the stands watching the Hawthorne High football team defeat an opponent he had helped prepare the Cougars for.

This was the scene for much of last season.

The 5-foot-9, 165-pound Morgan was, according to Cougar Coach Dan Robbins, one of the best players the Hawthorne starters faced each week.

“He was the scout team captain,” said Robbins, who will conclude his third season as Hawthorne’s coach when the Cougars (12-1) play Newbury Park (13-0) in the Southern Section Division III championship game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Moorpark College. “If we were going to play a really good quarterback that week, then (Morgan) was the quarterback. If we played a really good tailback, then he was the tailback.”

And Morgan, now a senior, said, “I made them work.”

Morgan became eligible during the 1992 playoffs and helped the Cougars win the Division III title. This season, he has contributed to the team’s success with his play at free safety, receiver and running back. He was named Bay League most valuable player.

Morgan said it was difficult not being allowed to suit up for games last season. After playing on the Gardena High B team as a sophomore, he tried to transfer to Hawthorne to play football. He moved in with Cougar strong safety Justin Stallings, a junior at the time. Stallings lives in Lawndale, part of the Centinela Valley Union High School District, and Morgan lived in South-Central Los Angeles.

Hawthorne administrators said Morgan needed to show a phone bill in his name to prove he actually lived with Stallings.

“My mother had to scuffle up and get some money to get a phone installed for me at Justin’s house,” Morgan said.

Morgan had to stay home until the first bill came five weeks later. He enrolled at Hawthorne, but he couldn’t play in football games because he hadn’t attended any classes.

He remained a practice player until after the first playoff game. Then he had a report card, with a C average, and Robbins immediately inserted him into the starting lineup for the final three playoff games, including the Division III final against Bell Gardens.

Playing free safety, Morgan averaged 10 tackles a game.

“They were the greatest three games of my life,” he said, smiling.

After completing academic requirements during summer school, Morgan came back with a vengeance this season. Starting all 13 games, Morgan ranks second on the team with six interceptions and 125 tackles. Cornerback Kelvin Hunter has seven interceptions and inside linebacker Ka’vika Purcell has 144 tackles.

“He’s the best man-to-man cover guy we have,” Robbins said of Morgan. “He’s extraordinarily quick and he’s really confident. He’s very coachable. He always listens to what you’re asking him to do during a drill and he runs it to perfection.”

Newbury Park Coach George Hurley said he has only seen Morgan on film, and is impressed.

“He’s an exceptional athlete in all phases of the game,” Hurley said. “We expect to see a good, hard-nosed game from him. We look forward to the challenge. We like playing the best there is, and he’s probably the best there is.”

Morgan, who has started at wide receiver (eight catches, 175 yards, two touchdowns) and tailback (44 carries, 322 yards, 11 TDs), has been contacted by colleges such as Utah and Fresno State. Washington and San Diego State have also contacted him, he said.

Despite his relatively small stature, Morgan is a bull on the field.

“You would think from his size that he’s not that strong,” said Stallings, who was an All-American last season and has given an unwritten commitment to play at Washington State next season. “He’s really aggressive. There have been plenty of times I came up to make a tackle and I get ready to hit the guy and then there’s Omarr, ‘Pow!’ One time he knocked some guy’s mouthpiece out of his mouth and the guy stayed down there a while.”

Saturday’s game should be the ultimate test for Morgan. Newbury Park is led by quarterback Keith Smith, who has passed for 3,988 yards and 38 touchdowns. His favorite receiver is Leodes Van Buren, who is regarded as the best in the Southland. Van Buren has 96 catches for 1,597 yards and 19 touchdowns and is the state’s all-time leader in receptions and yards.

“They are supposed to be good,” Morgan said. “We’ll see.”

After last summer, Morgan was granted a student permit allowing him to live out of the district, and he moved back with his parents, Bernice and Arthur, in South-Central L.A.

Now he wants to be able to bring home something he opted not to buy after last season.

“We won the championship and everybody else got rings,” Morgan said. “I didn’t get a ring. I felt I didn’t do anything. I promised Coach Robbins this year that I was going to get a ring.”

Championship game notes

Saturday’s Division III final will be a battle of Hawthorne’s aggressive defense and Newbury Park’s high-powered offense. The Panthers, playing in their first section final, have averaged 431 yards and 41 points a game behind the play of Smith and Van Buren, the most prolific pass-catch combination in state history. Another key player for Newbury Park is receiver Jason Tucker, who has 66 catches for 1,176 yards and 10 TDs. Defensively, the Panthers rely on middle linebacker Justin Simo (6-1, 200) and lineman Jared Trefethen (5-11, 210). Newbury Park has given up 12.3 points a game.

Hawthorne, which won section titles last season and in 1954, has won 12 consecutive games since losing its opener to Loyola, 20-13. Hawthorne has a distinct size advantage over the Panthers. Standout linemen for the Cougars include offensive tackle David Camacho (6-7, 300) and defensive tackle Daniel Dorsey (6-1, 285). Fullback Kalisi Moala and tailback Eric Chaney each rushed for two TDs and more than 100 yards last week in Hawthorne’s 44-20 semifinal victory over Buena, and quarterback Kenji Tatum connected with Hunter on a 74-yard scoring pass.