One of the nation’s top high school quarterbacks plays for Graham-Kapowsin

There’s a running joke on Graham-Kapowsin High School’s football team about the first time Dylan Morris took the field on a Friday night in 2015.

The Eagles were playing Kentlake and Morris, then a freshman, was about to line up with the offense to begin his high school career.

“I was thinking, ‘I’m going to throw a touchdown on my first play.’ And I tried to, and I threw a pick,” Morris remembered, smiling, before he opened his final preseason camp on Aug. 15 in Graham.

“My first throw ever in high school was an interception. That’s always funny looking back on.”

Morris rallied from the early mistake, going on to complete 15 of21 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns in his first game, and the Eagles breezed to a 35-14 win.

“Then we had a joke my whole freshman year — once I threw a pick, that’s when we could play good,” he said.

How far Morris has come since then. He entered high school three years ago as a young quarterback with clear potential. Following this season, the senior will leave Graham-Kapowsin as the top recruit in Washington in the2019 class, and one of the most elite passers in the country.

“He’s just grown over the years,” Eagles coach Eric Kurle said, noting his quarterback’s maturity on and off the field, and his knack to know how to win football games. “He’s one of those special kids you don’t find.”

Morris, now 6-foot-1, 195 pounds, has been committed to the Washington Huskies since the summer after his sophomore season, and passed up offers from schools like Notre Dame, Oregon, Nebraska and California in favor of his hometown college.

He is considered a four-star recruit, and the fifth-ranked pro-style quarterback in the nation in his class after finishing his junior season completing 199 of 302 passes for 3,086 yards and 31 touchdowns.

Sumner coach Keith Ross, who is entering his 18th season, says Morris is the best passer he’s coached against. He reminds Ross of New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees — with his body style, his grit and how he leads his teammates to success.

Not to mention what Ross called his “golden arm.” Morris passes with pinpoint accuracy, and he can sling the ball downfield with impressive strength.

Morris is the kind of quarterback, Ross says, that can still make the throws when the defense is doing everything right.

“Even if your (defensive back) or anybody in coverage is perfect, Dylan can still make the throw, that’s what sets him apart,” Ross said. “It’s a tough day when you have to line up and play against him. Even when you do everything right, he can still beat you.”

Morris, who was the 4A SPSL offensive player of the year in 2017, and a TNT All-Area and all-state pick, is regarded as one of the best players the league has produced.

“He’s one of those kids that had the tools starting out as a freshman and you could see that get progressively better each year,” Puyallup coach Gary Jeffers said. “I see great leadership.

“I see great command of the offense — understanding where coach Kurle wants him to put the ball. He can make all of the throws, and he throws on time and with great accuracy. He just has a great command of what they’re trying to do.”

All of that caught UW coach Chris Petersen’s eye during Morris’ freshman season, and the Huskies offered the following August.

“I think it showed early on that he had next-level arm strength and next-level ability in terms of ability to go through progressions, he could go through reads and could manage the offensive game,” said Brandon Huffman, the National Recruiting Editor at 247Sports.com. “He had all of those intangibles and they identified that early.”

Morris has been verbally committed to the Huskies for more than a year. The day they offered, he retweeted a photo a friend posted that shows him as a kid, dressed in all purple, sitting on the Sounder train on the way to a see a game. He’s been a UW fan forever, he said, and is excited to join the Huskies for his next football chapter.

“It was just definitely that home feeling, and the coaching staff there, you can’t beat it,” Morris said. “My parents can be at every game. I’ve grown up with the dudes in the quarterback room, so I’ve played with them, trained with them and played against them.”

It’s the perfect fit.

“(Petersen) wants guys that are winners, guys that have good qualities as a person,” Kurle said. “That’s who (Dylan) is.”

Though four-year starter Jake Browning will graduate before Morris arrives, Morris will join a loaded room of quarterbacks which includes former Lake Stevens star Jacob Eason, who transferred to UW from Georgia, and is projected to start in 2019.

Local product Jacob Sirmon (Bothell), Jake Haener and Colson Yankoff will also battle with Morris for the starting job in the coming years. But, Morris said he thinks anyone can come in and compete.

“He’s probably going to be the most well-rounded quarterback in that room when he enrolls as a freshman,” Huffman said of Morris. “From a football IQ standpoint, he fits in with what Chris Petersen wants at quarterback.”

Morris said the full room of quarterbacks has never deterred him from going to UW.

“It hasn’t,” he said. “I just take it as a learning experience, just learning from a guy (Eason) that I’ve looked up to since I’ve been in high school.

“There’s going to be competition everywhere, and I might as well stay home with the people I know and the coaches I’m most comfortable with.”

Morris has spent plenty of time this offseason continuing to progress. He has worked his way back from surgery — he suffered a leg injury in Graham-Kapowsin’s season finale in 2017 — and competed at two of the nation’s premier high school football events this summer.

Morris attended the Elite 11 quarterbacks competition in Redondo Beach — which is now streaming as a series on NFL Network’s YouTube channel — in June, where he competed against the nation’s best passers.

“It was the best time of my life,” Morris said. “Just watching it growing up on TV since I’ve been in about the seventh grade, actually being there was super surreal.”

Morris was the seventh quarterback from Washington in the event’s history to be named to the final team joining Eason (2015), Max Browne (Sammamish, 2012), Jeff Lindquist (Mercer Island, 2011), Jake Heaps (Skyline, 2009), Jake Locker (Ferndale, 2005) and Matt Tuiasosopo (Woodinville, 2003).

“Just the Washington fraternity that’s been there, it was really nice to fit in those shoes and be noted with them,” Morris said.

Morris also noted how much he learned about himself outside of football at the camp. He said he learned he is loving, a family man, optimistic in adversity, and much more than a football player.

“The theme of it was, ‘I am.’ So, they basically asked you the question, ‘Who are you?’ When they first asked me that I had no clue how to answer it,” Morris said.

“Going through, listening to the speakers I learned that, based off of my injury, that I’m optimistic. I’m always going to look forward to something good that’s going to happen.”

At the Elite 11, Morris also punched his ticket to Nike’s The Opening Finals in Dallas. There, he competed alongside the best players — not only quarterbacks — in the country. He was one of two players from Washington that was invited.

“It was definitely fun bonding with players across the country,” Morris said. “Just being with them shows you how you are as a football player,and gets you adjusted to that kind of competition and gets you ready for college, I feel like.”

But before he gets there, Morris is anticipating a successful final season with the Eagles. Graham-Kapowsin has advanced to the 4A state playoffs each of Morris’ three years, twice making the quarterfinals.

For his final season, Morris is aiming for that elusive state championship. The Eagles return four of five starters on their offensive line, and talent at the skill positions.

Morris says he’s excited about this group, and mentoring younger players before he wraps up his high school career.

“That’s why I love football,” Morris said. “I love the friendships it gives me, and the lessons it teaches me about how to be a leader,and how to be a good person to people.”

This story was originally published August 26, 2018 at 11:28 AM.