Orthopaedic Institute of Central Jersey Football Player of the Week: Barnegat’s Sean Morris

Every week this regular season, Shore Conference football fans will have their chance to vote for the Orthopaedic Institute of Central Jersey/Shore Sports Network Football Player of the Week on our website, with over 13,000 votes cast in our first poll of the season.

The first winner of the Shore Conference Football Player of the Week poll is Barnegat junior tight end and defensive end Sean Morris, who made plays all over the field to help lead the Bengals to a 22-14 victory over Donovan Catholic to open their season. Morris finished with six receptions for 75 yards and a touchdown, and was a menace on defense with seven tackles, including five tackles for a loss, two forced fumbles and two sacks, one of which resulted in a safety.

Morris had a 15-yard touchdown reception in the second half and made several big plays behind the line of scrimmage from his spot at defensive end. His safety put Barnegat up, 16-14, in the fourth quarter, and he also had a key sack on fourth down (video above) to force a turnover on downs.

Morris has two older brothers who starred at tight end for the Bengals and went on to play in college. Ryan was an FBS recruit who signed with Purdue before later transferring and finishing his career at FCS powerhouse Villanova. Kyle is currently a junior wide receiver at Johns Hopkins. At 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, Sean could certainly follow in their footsteps and is off to a great start.

It was a back and forth voting period between Morris and Long Branch wide receiver T.J. Fosque, who had six receptions for 178 yards and three touchdowns in the Green Wave's 28-19 victory over Manasquan. A late push enabled Morris to edge Fosque with 33.09 percent of the vote.

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