Morris defensive tackle on the rise

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:18PM

To hear Morris coach Alan Thorson rave about senior defensive tackle Rishard Dixon-Norris, you might half expect host Mike Rowe of the Discovery Channel's popular "Dirty Jobs" program to show up on Friday night in Kaneland.

Four years ago, the 6-foot-3, 246-pound Dixon-Norris was a backup lineman on the Redskins' freshmen team. But like the fabled Mason-Dixon line, the dispute for Dixon-Norris was whether the work-ethic concept would eclipse the bar of always being "a bigger kid."

He's still big, albeit not on the same scale of last year's Central Michigan recruit, the 6-5, 285-pound Kevin Henry. However, a deadly mixture of size and speed - plus determination from all those hours in the weight room - amps up Dixon-Norris like a Fender.

And it's music to his ears.

"That's how we were last week," he said of Morris' interior linemen. "We had to cause the double-teams to leave the open spots for our linebackers to make tackles. It's a dirty job, but you have to do what you have to do for the team to win games. You can't be selfish."

According to Thorson, that S-word would never be the way to describe Dixon-Norris, whose considerable help with his Redskin teammates on a last-second stand at the 1 against new conference rival Rochelle clinched a 15-8 Northern Illinois Big 12 win.

Selfless? Well, now you are talking about Dixon-Norris and Morris (6-2, 3-1), which rides a two-game winning streak into Kaneland (8-0, 4-0) with the inaugural conference championship of the Big 12 East at stake. Welcome to this league's version of Nebraska vs. Oklahoma.

Teetering after a 34-18 conference loss to Sycamore, the Redskins responded with a 38-20 decision over DeKalb and then the heartstopping victory over Rochelle, ending the Hubs' 12-year run of qualifying for the playoffs despite being outgained 350-106.

In the playoffs for the 23rd time in 24 years and the 10th straight, Morris wrapped up Rochelle (3-5, 0-4) with defense after allowing 19 first downs and a 30-minute, 44-second disadvantage in time of possession - partly because the agile Dixon-Norris did not rest.

"That was a huge stop for us," he said. "We were out there for a good five minutes, it seemed, and they just kept driving the ball and driving the ball. But we got that big stop to end the game, we all ran off the field, and we just left everything that we had out there."

"That tackle was for the game," Thorson said. "I don't even know who made the initial hit, but Rishard was right there and we had so many guys swarming to the football. To get a stop on the 1-yard-line to win the game is huge."

Defense wins championships, a slogan that has been a windfall for T-shirt printers everywhere, has been Morris' modus operandi for generations. Along with Dixon-Norris up front in the 5-2, junior linebacker Hunter Barry and senior safety Andrew Bordner have received the top billing.

While Bordner has been as big as a Borders book store with 70 tackles on 41 solos, two interceptions and two forced fumbles, Barry has been Barry, Barry good with 67 tackles on 47 solos. And Dixon-Norris, the sledgehammer to opponents' cement, checks in with 45 tackles on 28 solos and four sacks.

It's a dirty job, indeed.

"Our D-line is stacked with Rishard," Barry said. "He's so big and fast. He can get through guys and blow right by them, he creates the double-teams and the holes for us to get in there for tackles, and he could play anywhere on the line that he wants to."

"Having Rishard on the D-line is pretty big," Bordner nodded. "He controls most of the line, gets penetration into the backfield, finds the ball and comes up with a lot of big plays. He's really fast for his size, he uses his speed, and then he uses his strength."

That combo added up to a sandwich-like tackle of fullback Josh Bernardin,Rochelle's leading rusher, as time ran out at the 1. Dixon-Norris also notched his fourth sack of the season.

"He gets in there," Bordner said, "a lot quicker than most people would expect of him."

"Usually, if he gets in there," Barry said, "he gets a sack or a tackle in the backfield."

As a freshman, Dixon-Norris was practically on the backburner, the epitome of a youngster reaching for the tip of the iceberg. He climbed the mountain by following the Redskins' tradition to a T.

"He was always a big kid," Thorson said of Dixon-Norris, who moved to Morris from Ottawa in fourth grade. "He worked hard for four years, living in the weight room, and it has really paid off. He's one of those good stories about a kid who worked hard to get to where he is at right now."

How he gets from here to there has been as noteworthy, with Thorson pointing out that "he's a big kid, he has the size and strength of a defensive lineman, but what makes Rishard unique is the speed he has. And when he goes up against a good offensive lineman, he wants to one-up him."

Meanwhile, Morris wants to one-up Kaneland for the conference title of the Big 12 East. Although the majority of defensive players prefer linebacker or safety for the glory, Dixon-Norris puts on the hard hat and punches the clock as a blue-collar defensive tackle.

"I like being inside and using my hands, and it's actually the most physical part of the defense," he said. "There's a huge tradition of playing football at Morris, built on winning teams, and I like sacks. It's pretty big to get back there to the quarterback and take him down."

Down and dirty.

Off the field, Dixon-Norris comes across as the nicest kid on your block. On the field, he'll take the "Dirty Jobs" depiction as a compliment.

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