Junior Aaron Warren sparkled in Morgan Park’s 26-0 Illini Red Bird win over Curie at Gately Stadium on Saturday.
Morgan Park’s Camron Fulton was set to make the handoff to Aaron Warren eventually.
But like everything else in the pandemic era, the schedule got a little scrambled.
Fulton was one of the Public League’s most dynamic quarterbacks last season. But he’ll be playing defensive back in college and coach Chris James wanted to showcase him to recruiters.
Moving Fulton to the other side of the ball opened the door for Warren to be the Mustangs’ starting quarterback now. The junior showed why he’s up to the job in Saturday’s 26-0 Illini Red Bird win over Curie at Gately Stadium.
Warren ran 20 yards for Morgan Park’s first touchdown and added a 14-yard scoring pass to freshman Chris Durr.
“He’s an emotional kid,” James said of Warren, who finished with 120 total yards. “He’s just got to stay poised. … I didn’t want to say it too early, but Aaron’s got all the ability in the world and he’ll be big for us in the fall too.”
Warren credited Fulton for getting him up to speed.
“That’s my big brother,” Warren said. “He taught me everything. Every practice he taught me something.”
Among the lessons: “Lead by example. There’s going to be obstacles. We’ve got to get over them.”
“That’s my little brother,” Fulton said. “I’ve been playing football with Aaron since I was 11 years old. Off the field, I’m with Aaron every single day. It’s just a bond we’ve got.”
That bond helped Fulton, Warren and their teammates get through the strangest year of their lives, with remote learning, 16 months between games and a lack of prep time for this abbreviated season..
“I thought it was over for a second,” Warren said. “I almost cried when (it looked like) we had no season.”
“It’s a blessing,” Fulton said. “I didn’t think I’d get to play my senior year. I really didn’t.”
But he is playing, with an almost entirely new set of teammates. Morgan Park graduated 22 seniors and has a roster featuring a number of talented underclassmen.
They include Durr and fellow freshman Donta Hayes, who ran the second-half kickoff back 81 yards for a touchdown. Jacobi Beard added a six-yard TD run for the Mustangs.
“I was just happy my guys got to play and we got the win,” James said.
Turrant Johnson ran for 58 yards for Curie.
“Are we disappointed? Yes,” Condors coach Peter Grazzini said. “But it’s been 500-and-some days and we’re finally out here. And these guys finally get to be kids and compete.”