WOODSTOCK — Yannick Morgan-Welch — a four-year starting tailback for the Colonels — doesn’t mind becoming a lead blocker on certain plays.
In fact, he welcomes the addition of transfer Matt Sullivan, who is likely to split carries with the team’s leading rusher, who raced for 843 yards last season on 143 attempts.
It’s that unselfishness that head coach Rich Chiarolanzio thinks can only improve the running game, now with two capable backs, for a MMA team that is trying to bounce back from a 3-7 season one year ago.
“Whatever it takes for us to win. It’s not just about me, it’s about the team,” Morgan-Welch said. “It’s even better because he’ll be fresh when he’s in and I’ll be fresh when I’m in and it’s better for the team. Whatever can bring us the farthest, that’s what we need to do.”
Chiarolanzio admitted that the team’s weakness may be the depth it has throughout the roster. But that is not the case at the running back position. If there’s two starters that are clearly the strength of the team, it’s Morgan-Welch and Sullivan.
“I’ve been on the staff for three years; I’ve watched Yannick grow and blossom,” Chiarolanzio said. “He has just become a hard hitting running back and a talented young man —the true leader of this team. When Matt arrived, there was no competition, they get along, it’s like they’re best of friends. Yannick’s a leader, this is his team, he’s a senior; he’s got to make this his year.”
Sullivan said, after last Friday’s scrimmage against Central, that he thinks the team is running the ball well on the outside and is having success executing the misdirection plays likely to be a key on offense.
Both backs, who display almost equal breakaway speed, display a mix of attributes that will present different looks to opposing defenses. Because of his size Morgan-Welch has the ability to be a power and speed back in the offense, while Sullivan is gifted at reading the blocks of his lineman and using his vision to find holes.
But the biggest addition may be the chemistry the two exhibit on the field.
Chiarolanzio recalled a moment at practice, during the team’s first intra-squad scrimmage in full pads, where he called a dive play with Sullivan lined up as the lead blocker for Morgan-Welch.
Knowing that he outweighs the transfer, Morgan-Welch, instead, offered a different arrangement to his coach.
“I’ll never forget it,” Chiarolanzio said. “Yannick stepped up and said, ‘hey coach, I’m not saying I’m better but I’m a little bit bigger. Why don’t I lead it?’
“That’s just the kind of young man he’s grown into. Two years ago he might’ve said, ‘I want the ball,’ but he knows the team and that’s what it’s about.
Chiarolanzio said he was overwhelmed by Sullivan’s talent after he watched game film of the student before he enrolled at MMA. But the coach said he approached Morgan-Welch and let him know that it wasn’t about finding a replacement, but giving the team the ability to open up the offense even more.
“Everybody but about two teams will know Yannick, and now they can’t key on Yannick,” Chiarolanzio said. “And he knows that and he doesn’t mind it at all.”
“They’re just going to complement each other on every play, no matter who has the ball and no matter what we’re doing.”
