Kevin Morton was a star quarterback at Abington and later at Kutztown University where he rewrote the record books. The Abington grad spent this fall on the sidelines and in the classroom at his alma mater.
By Mary Jane Souder
The scene is heartwarming.
Kevin Morton, former star quarterback at Abington High School, is applauding and encouraging each and every move – no matter how small - his students make during an exercise drill in a special education class at his alma mater.
It’s undoubtedly not a setting Morton might have imagined finding himself when he graduated from Kutztown University with a degree in criminal justice last spring.
“I worked at a juvenile detention center after I graduated, and it was not what I wanted to do,” he said.
Working in the classroom is what Morton wants to do, and he is enrolled in a behavior analyst grad school program, but he is planning to switch out of that and pursue health and physical education with the hopes of getting a special education teaching certificate.
“I want to be in the school and coach football,” said Morton, who is serving as an aide at Abington.
Morton got his first taste of coaching high school football this fall when he coached Abington’s ninth grade team to an undefeated season. He also worked with Abington assistant Terrance Tolbert – his former quarterback coach - coaching the quarterbacks at the varsity level.
“It’s nice because you have a guy who is on the same page with you,” coach Tim Sorber said. “I’ve learned a lot from Kevin as far as some of the things we do in the pass game.”
Morton couldn’t have picked a better year to come on board. The Ghosts had three different quarterbacks this season, a situation that arose after standout QB Anthony Lee was lost for the season to an injury.
“Although he wasn’t on the varsity staff, he worked with us in games,” Sorber said of Morton. “He came to varsity practice late (after his practices), and he was helpful along with Terrence Tolbert in the development of Anthony Lee and David Kretschman.
“Having two guys on my staff that have great experience – it shows why, statistically speaking, the final stats of all three guys who played had an over 59 percent completion percentage and a very low interception ratio,” Sorber said. “It was difficult, but Kevin was extremely helpful, and he did a great job with the ninth grade team instilling what we want to do.”
Morton enjoyed every minute of the experience.
“It’s interesting with a different perspective,” he said. “You’re seeing the other side of it.
“You come back and you see the frustration of the coaches. You see the things that the coaches understood that you didn’t understand, and you never really grasped that. What I grasped this year was that when you’re 16, 17 years old you don’t really want to listen to your coaches but you’re glad that you did.”
After a stellar career at Abington, Morton rewrote the record books at Kutztown. A two-time honorable mention All-American, he ranks first at Kutztown in career pass attempts (1,447), completions (912), passing yards (11,612) and passing touchdowns (119). He also holds single game records for attempts (63), completions (45) and passing yards (119).
As for single season records, Morton broke the record for completions with 284 and completion percentage at 68.8 percent. He also holds single season records for passing yards (3,633) and passing touchdowns (38).
Morton finished his record-breaking career fourth all time in Division II with passing touchdowns (109) and 11th in passing yards (11,612) and is one of just 19 Division II players to have thrown for 10,000 yards and 100 touchdowns.
“Kevin had an outstanding career,” Sorber said. “He broke every Kutztown record and was one of the leading passers in Division II history, one of the top passers in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.
“It doesn’t surprise me because he was a phenomenal football player.”
As a senior at Kutztown, Morton was named a BSN College Preseason All-American and was honored with the PSAC East Offensive Player of the Week twice while also being tabbed as the NCAA.com Offensive Player of the Week and the D2football.com Offensive player of the Week.
“It was a lot of fun,” Morton said. “I kind of got lucky. My second year we got a new offensive coordinator, and he was really good.
“It all just kind of fell in line for me. I went to a good place. We had guys from CB South, Upper Dublin and from schools around here, and we just all fell together and had a good four years.”
And these days, Morton is teaching aspiring stars what he learned along the way.
“Kevin is going to be a phenomenal coach,” Sorber said. “Just his attitude, and he loves the game of football.”
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