Over 75K votes cast in Indy's Best Burger Bracket. See who advanced, vote in Frynal Four
HIGH SCHOOL

Longtime Ben Davis freshman football coach dies

"Every kid in our program played for him."

Kyle Neddenriep
IndyStar

The Ben Davis football family lost a member this week.

Longtime Ben Davis freshman football coach Mike Morris died Monday, coach Mike Kirschner said.

Morris, a 1995 Ben Davis graduate, had been battling pancreatic cancer. He suffered a stroke prior to the football season and had been hospitalized since.

"He had been doing pretty well with the cancer but it wasn't a curable situation," Kirschner said. "The stroke was pretty major. He'd been unable to speak since he was in the hospital."

Morris has coached on the freshman staff since Kirschner took over as coach in 2007. Morris had been coaching at Chapel Hill Middle School.

"Every kid in our program played for him," Kirschner said.

Morris' wife, Keisha, helped with the Junior Giants youth program.

Kirschner said he'll talk with the team today and practice as scheduled. There is a moment of silence planned for Friday's game against Pike.

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.