La CROSSE – La Crosse High School senior Kip Keeley grew up around the Leopard football program. His dad, Bill Keeley, was the former head coach and built the program into a powerhouse. Currently, Bill Keeley serves as the Leopards’ defensive coordinator. Keeley started attending La Crosse practices when he was a kid and has started for more than three years at fullback and linebacker.
The other half of La Crosse’s backup tandem that is widely regarded as the best in Class 2-1A – and possibly Kansas – is senior tailback/linebacker Levi Morss. Morss began his high school career playing eight-man football at Rozel-Pawnee Heights, a school that now co-ops with Larned for football. His sophomore season, Morss transferred to La Crosse and couldn’t play varsity because of transfer rules. The athletic, speedy Morss is one of Kansas’ fastest players, but had to learn the game.
However, the vastly different backgrounds have formed a close friendship and one of the main reasons why La Crosse is 10-0 and ranked No. 1 in Class 2-1A. Last year, the Leopards finished 12-1 and reached their first state championship in school history before it lost in overtime to Centralia. La Crosse will play host to Oakley (7-2) on Friday.
“You couldn’t script two different football paths for those kids,” fourth-year coach Jon Webster said. “Levi is a kid who doesn’t have a lot of just football experience and Kip, who has nothing but football experience. Kip is very serious, Levi is kind of squirrely and likes to goof around, and they play off each other. Levi keeps Kip loose, and Kip keeps Levi in line and it’s a unique situation back there, and I think each one pushes the other.”
Last week, the duo each collected at least 146 total yards and scored at least one TD in the Leopards’35-6 first round playoff victory versus Ell-Saline.
“It feels a lot better having him behind me,” Keeley said. “It’s pretty cool. It’s kind of something that right now that I take for granted, but I am sure 20 years from now, I will look back and realize the kind of duo that we have and how great it is.”
Afterward, Ell-Saline coach Terry King said Morss and Keeley were the best backfield he had seen all season. Morss had missed nearly all of Week 8 and all of Week 9 because an ankle injury, but collected a career-high 26 carries for 155 yards.
“I feel good,” Morss said. “We established our run game pretty good I would say and overall our passing was better than good. We did all right both sides of the ball, passing and running.”
Last year, Morss finished with 172 carries for 1,302 yards and 17 TDs, while Keeley had 99 carries for 828 yards and 10 scores. As well, Keeley hauled in a team-high 27 catches for 226 yards and a TD. Also a straight A student, he was recently named a finalist for the Wendy’s High School Heisman. Multiple schools have looked at Keeley, including South Dakota and Kansas State.
“The other day I was looking at all the kids who were the school winners, and the list went on and on,” Keeley said. “I was looking at names and I recognized some of them. Those are kids with great character. Just to be mentioned on that list, let alone move on to the top 10, means a lot.”
This season, the pair has upped most of their numbers. Morss has 133 carries for 1,409 yards and 14 TDs. That included 356 yards in a Week 4 win versus Plainville, a performance considered one of the best by a Kansas player this year.
“We’ve been able to expand his role in the offense a little bit based on his understanding,” Webster said.“ Last year, we had to keep it very simple for his job, because he was just learning the game. This year, we have been able to do a little more stuff, and the light bulb comes on quicker than it had in past.”
Keeley has 105 carries for 898 yards and 14 TDs, has hauled in a team-best 20 catches for 416 yards and five TDs, and also paces the squad with 72 tackles.
The Leopard offense features sophomore quarterback Jack Garcia (1,222 total yards, 16/4 TD/INT ratio) and senior William Storie (13.8 yards per carry, four scores). But the offensive foundation starts with Keeley and Morss – a pair who could lead La Crosse back to state.
"(Levi) is a fast kid, so we block for two-three seconds and he is gone,” senior lineman Trey Renz said. “Both of them are really fun, and apart from that, they are great leaders when they are on the field. Levi, when he gets vocal, you listen. Kip is always vocal. They are just great guys to block for, and they are great friends out there, too."
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