Torkelson has Morris on the rise

Updated: March 22, 2011 4:12PM

Losing track of a 6-foot-5, 197-pound wide receiver like Morris senior Kjeld Torkelson is the opposite of finding the needle in the haystack. But there was Torkelson Friday night, grazing all alone in the corner of the end zone.

Trailing 18-12 with 1 minute and 18 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, the Redskins turned to a page in the playbook that has been a part of the school's storied football history, according to coach Alan Thorson, for "30 or 40 years." And it was a good read.

Austin Feeney, a junior quarterback making only his fourth varsity start, was supposed to begin his progression with the medium route. Instead, Feeney checked off to Torkelson, who has the pillowy hands to go with gazelle speed and basketball leaping ability.

No jump ball here, though.

"The corner came up thinking he had safety help over the top, but he didn't," Torkelson said, recalling his winning 17-yard touchdown pass from Feeney. "I was just wide open. I felt like Austin knew that I was the decoy on the play, but he still knew to look for me."

Because of that clutch catch by Torkelson, the climax of a come-from-behind 19-18 victory over longtime rival Ottawa in a Northern Illinois Big 12 conference crossover, Morris is already looking good in Year 1 under Thorson.

The lyrics of AC/DC will tell you that TnT is dynamite. For Morris (3-1, 0-0), the TnT of Thorson and Torkelson has been explosive as well, particularly in culling the combination of Feeney (37-of-74, 512 yards, seven TDs) to Torkelson (20 catches, 320 yards, three TDs).

While Feeney excelled running the shotgun double-slot spread against Ottawa, finishing 16-of-30 for 204 yards and two TDs, Torkelson turned his eight receptions into 118 yards. The Redskins rallied from a 10-0 deficit as a result, going to the air even better than Jet Blue.

In the height department, Torkelson has company, with junior wideout Jake Paulson using his 6-2, 185-pound frame to pull in four catches for 35 yards and a four-yard TD that sliced the difference to 10-6 at halftime. Then Torkelson's grab took them even higher.

Just as expected.

"Oh, absolutely," Thorson said. "Kjeld had a great summer, and you don't get a lot of 6-5, 200-pound receivers who can move like that with good speed. We definitely want to make the most of him and we want to get the ball in his hands as much as possible."

"Kjeld is a great all-around player," Paulson pointed out. "He'll go up there and catch anything, and he did have a couple of fumbles in the Ottawa game, but that was because he was fighting for the extra yards. He's a heckuva player and heckuva athlete."

Athletic enough to create the space in coverage, something that stymied Ottawa. Thorson's final call came with No. 83 as a diversion and Feeney, whose father Jim quarterbacked Morris to the Class 4A state championship in 1984, found Torkelson anyway.

"That was our ‘out right', and it's a play that has been a part of Morris football for 30 or 40 years," Thorson said. "Kjeld actually was supposed to be more of a decoy and run the safety off. It was gonna be a 15-yard out, but the safety bit up, and he was wide open."

"It was fun," Feeney said. "I couldn't believe how open Kjeld was at the end. He's my third option - I look medium route, where we had a little 10-yard out, then I go 5-yard out, and they were both covered. I just saw Kjeld standing there in the back of the end zone."

Thus, for once, Torkelson's size did not matter. Much like the Texans' Matt Schaub throwing passes that only Andre Johnson can catch, Feeney sends spirals into the window that allows Torkelson - his first name is pronounced "keeled" - to go up and over.

"It helps me a lot, especially against the shorter defensive backs," said Torkelson, who averaged 16.7 points, 6 rebounds and 2.2 assists as a junior forward in basketball last winter. "I can outjump the DBs, get up and get the ball. I tell Austin to keep it above my head so I can reach for it."

"It's huge," Feeney said. "He comes down with everything. He even tells me, ‘Put it up there and I'll come down with it.' His best attribute is probably his hands because he really won't drop anything."

That's the post in him.

A unanimous all-conference choice last year by the NCIC in basketball, Torkelson might have been tempted to pick one sport but he also noted, "Playing basketball helps my jumping and definitely keeps me in shape, and I don't have to play defense in football. We have enough players that we don't have to go both ways."

With Torkelson as a target, Morris' offense should be in tip-top shape for the start of the Northern Illinois Big 12 race this Friday night at home against Yorkville. Paulson acknowledged the advantages of being the next in line.

"Kjeld is definitely our No. 1 receiver," he said. "Right now, every team is going to be double-covering him, and Coach Thorson does a great job of getting all of us involved in the offense. Austin has the confidence to throw the ball to me, I have the confidence to go up and get it, and that should take the pressure of Kjeld."

"Our philosophy all year long has been to get the ball into our athletes' hands," Thorson nodded. "And he is one of our best athletes."

As the best bet for the Redskins' offense, Torkelson understands the by-product of his ovation-causing TD catch in Week 4 against Ottawa.

Yep, step right up.

"Now I know I'm going to be even more of a decoy," Torkelson said. "I like it because that way, we can get our other receivers open even more. I thought we would be 4-0, and our goal remains that we want to win every game, win conference and make it to state."

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