In Wayne Morgan’s eyes, he wasn’t the only person from Erasmus Hall being honored by winning the PSAL Wingate award.
“It means a lot for me and for my school also because my school never really got this much attention,” the dynamic quarterback/defensive back said Monday night at the Brooklyn Marriott during the league’s awards dinner. “It’s a real honor.”
Named as the top PSAL senior in the sport shows just how far the program has come in Morgan’s tenure, he said. As a freshman, the Dutchman were the top seed in the Bowl Division playoffs, the second of three tiers in the PSAL. With each passing season, Morgan and his teammates raised Erasmus Hall’s profile and its standing as one of the league’s premier clubs. It ended with a trip to its first ever PSAL Championship Division city final this year at Yankee Stadium.
“He means the world to us,” Dutchman head coach Danny Landberg said of the Syracuse-bound star. “He’s the greatest competitor, probably the toughest kid I ever had.”
Landberg has known Morgan since he was in middle school, knew all long he has going to be a special player. Seeing him dominate as a sophomore and lead the team to the Championship division semifinals showed him just how dangerous he could be. Morgan, a 5-foot-11, 185-pound speedster, is the first nationally touted player to come out of the Brooklyn school.
“I take a lot of honor and pride in the school because when I came I heard a lot of negative [things] like, ‘not to go to that school. Erasmus is a bad school,’” Morgan said. “It means a lot to go to the school and turn it around and be one of the top teams in the city.”
Morgan, an All-City first team selection by The Post, had his finest season as a senior. Like his team, he saved his biggest performances for when they mattered most. He collected 45 tackles, one sack, one interception, two fumble recoveries, and scored two defensive touchdowns.
Morgan also completed 45 passes for 763 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 600 yards and six scores. He runs a 4.4-second 40-yard dash, is ranked in the top 150 in the country by ESPN and played in the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl.
The next stage of his life at Syracuse is closing in for Morgan. He is itching to get started at the college level after playing in the 17th annual United Healthcare Empire Challenge all-star game at Hofstra June 19, which pits the best players from New York City against the finest from Long Island.
“I’ve just been waiting for this my whole life,” Morgan said. “My mother’s happy. That’s all I want to do it make my mother proud.”
He leaves behind teammates, a coach and a school that is plenty proud of him as well. Morgan scripted a legacy as the one of the best players Erasmus Hall and New York City has seen and after four years on the varsity leaves a big hole to fill for the Dutchman, both on and off the field.
“He means a lot to the program,” Landberg said. “He means a lot to me personally. It’s going to be weird seeing him not wear No. 2 for me anymore.”