The Mornhinwegs live in the Reserve at Packer Park, right near the Eagles' practice facility, and when Dad prepares the first 20 plays for each week's game, guess who's often sitting right beside him.
"I'm sure he does it more for me than for him," a smiling Skyler said yesterday under gloomy skies at Belmont Plateau, right before the Prep began practicing. "I'm sure he has it already [finalized]. But he'll call out a formation and ask me what play would look good. He likes to introduce me to the West Coast style.
"I've never studied the Eagles' playbook, but I'm a little bit comfortable with it."
As for the Prep's . . . He could probably read it backward.
Orchestrating a no-huddle spread under second-year coach Gabe Infante and offensive coordinator Tim Roken, Mornhinweg this season (3-0 record) has produced 702 yards of passing/rushing, along with 10 touchdowns.
Last Saturday night, in a 51-33 roasting of traditional suburban power North Penn, his right arm and feet were involved in all seven TDs. He ran for two, passed for four and even turned a fumble-return lateral into a score.
"We had respect for North Penn," Mornhinweg said. "But we knew if we followed our game plan, with the way our coaches coached us up, we'd be fine. We trusted each other. Our o-line let me throw and our receivers made some plays. It was great to click like that. We'll try to keep it going."
Because Mornhinweg made his first Prep dent on defense, posting four interceptions as a frosh, and because some viewed him as a great athlete who happened to play quarterback, more than a gun-for-an-arm QB natural, there was always a lingering thought that safety could wind up being his college position.
Infante would not quite scoff at that, but he knows what he has and what Penn State is getting.
