DAILY PILOT HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK:Morley settles into a sparkling debut

What makes Mike Morley a good quarterback was the one thing he could not turn to before his first varsity start.

Morley’s calmness and his poise under pressure both led him to the position as Estancia High’s starting quarterback. But there is no getting around the jitters of the first big game and Morley’s began a week before the Sept. 1 opener.

His older brother, Tim, who had experienced Morley’s position in the past, could not talk the nervousness out of him. When the day came, Morley’s uneasiness carried over into the game, as the junior completed just one of his first seven passes.

“I was a little errant in the beginning,” Morley said. “I was a little nervous. I didn’t know what to expect. Coach [Brian Barnes] told me to calm down. He knew I did better in practice.”

Then Morley got his talent back. He then went nine for his next 10 to finish with 259 yards and four touchdowns passing. He also scored two rushing touchdowns. For his performance, he is the Daily Pilot Football Player of the Week.

Morley connected with Matt Redding for a 54-yard touchdown on a shovel pass and threw touchdown passes of 35 and 33 yards to Tim Morley and Eddie Tomasek, respectively.

He also connected with Redding for another 30-yard completion.

Morley said the real credit went to the offensive line of Sean Ulrich, Alex Machuca, David Lopez, Kristian Carranza and Connor McKendry who did not allow a sack.

Further, Morley only hit the ground twice in the game — once on a roughing-the-passer penalty.

“The linemen had a [great] deal to do with me [getting calm],” Morley said. “They know the game is won and lost with the line.”

At the same time, as the leader of the offense, Morley knew he could not let on about how nervous he was.

“They feed off me,” Morley said. “The linemen had to know I was confident.”

The awkwardness was not just on the field, it was at home for Morley who competed with his brother for the starting quarterback position.

“Sometimes during the summer, during dinner, someone in the family would ask who the quarterback was,” Morley said. “It was a little awkward.”

But Tim Morley was needed at the linebacker position and so Tim Morley moved to receiver on offense.

“Sometimes we would joke in the offseason and I’d tell him he was never going to score because I wasn’t going to throw him the ball,” Mike Morley said. “Actually there’s no favorite receiver out there. It’s just about the coverage.”

Since school began Tuesday, Mike Morley has fielded his share of compliments on a performance that helped produce the most points in an opener, 44, in the school’s 42 varsity seasons.

“I accept the compliment and I just try and think about the next opponent,” Morley said. “We need to keep getting better and better because the teams are going to get harder and harder.”

Morley expects more of the same because of the way Estancia practices.

“[Barnes] told us our hard work would pay off and we believed him,” Morley said. “We came out confident. You play how you practice and coach made sure we practiced perfect.”

MIKE MORLEY

Born: Aug. 11, 1990

Hometown: Costa Mesa

Height: 6-foot-2

Weight: 175

Position: Quarterback

Coach: Brian Barnes

Favorite food: Bean and cheese burrito

Favorite movie: “Harold and Kumar go to White Castle”

Favorite athletic moment: “Last year when the Estancia junior varsity team went into the half down, 12-0, to Costa Mesa, but came back to win, 20-12.”

Week in review: Morley threw for 259 yards and four touchdowns, completing 10 of 17 with no interceptions. He also rushed for two TDs.