Zander Morris goes from soccer star to state champion kicker during busy fall for West Linn

Despite being fairly new to kicking footballs, the junior played a key role during the Lions’ run to the Oregon 6A Open title

Zander Morris booted a 32-yard field goal in West Linn's 6A Open championship-clinching victory over Lake Oswego. / Photo by Dan Brood

HILLSBORO — Zander Morris knows a lot about kicking.

For many, many years, he’s done many, many kicks.

But most of those years, and most of those kicks, were on the soccer pitch.

Last Friday, however, Morris, a West Linn junior, was doing a different kind of kicking — on the football field.

And they were some pretty big, high-pressure kicks.

All of his kicking experience paid off for Morris — and the West Linn football team.

Morris, known more for his soccer skills, booted a 32-yard field goal to help the Lions earn a 44-30 win over Lake Oswego in the Class 6A Open championship game at Hillsboro Stadium.

“This means a lot,” Morris said of helping the Lions claim the title. “I’ve been on this team for only a year, but it’s like a family. I can just tell how much this means to us by the way we’re celebrating right now. It’s great.”

Zander Morris won an OSAA football state championship with his Lions "family." / Photo by Dan Brood

The football championship capped a successful — and very busy — fall sports season for Morris.

In addition to helping the Lions claim the Open football crown, he was a captain for the West Linn boys soccer team. Morris earned second-team all-Three Rivers League honors as a defender as he was a key player for the Lions team that went 9-5-3 (4-1 in TRL matches) and reached the second round of the Class 6A state playoffs.

“I’ve played soccer for almost all my life, since I was about 2,” Morris said. “It just became natural for me to kick the ball.”

And there are other balls to kick.

“Starting in my freshman year, my dad was urging me to come out and play football,” Morris said.

He gave that a try, sort of, during his first year at West Linn High School.

“In my freshman year, I only kicked for two games (for the Lions freshman team),” Morris said. “My soccer coach wouldn’t let me play. But that’s OK — I’m here now.”

He didn’t play as a sophomore, but he got back on the gridiron this year.

“(West Linn assistant) Coach Joe (Kloucek) helped get me on the team,” Morris said.

He eventually took over the placekicking duties for the Lions.

In West Linn’s 28-21 win over Sheldon in a Class 6A Open semifinal game at Willamette University in Salem, Morris made all four of his extra-point kicks and put two of his kickoffs in the end zone for touchbacks.

If Morris had any nervousness in the championship game against the Lakers, he had to get over it quickly. The Lions scored a touchdown on a 5-yard run by senior Hudson Hardy less than two minutes in. That brought in Morris to kick the extra point.

He drilled the kick right down the middle, making the score 7-0.

“As soon as the first kick went through, I was good,” he said.

Zander Morris didn't even start kicking footballs until his freshman year. Within two years, he was the kicker for one of the best football programs in the state. / Photo by Dan Brood

He kicked another extra point after a touchdown catch by senior Danny Wideman. Soon after, the left-footed kicker faced what could have been his biggest challenge of the game.

With the Lions facing fourth-and-9 on the Lake Oswego 15-yard line, Morris was called on to attempt a 32-yard field goal from the left hash mark.

He was successful with the kick, giving West Linn a 17-0 lead.

“It was a good thing it wasn’t my first kick of the game, because I was able to get more settled into it. But it was good. It was good to see it sail through the uprights,” Morris said. “I just went about it as usual. It was just like any other kick in practice. I visualized it going through the uprights, and that’s what happened.”

He finished the game with the field goal, five extra-point kicks and one of his kickoffs going for a touchback.

But more important, he finished the game as a state champion.

“It feels pretty great,” he said.

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