Morgan Park’s Darrell Mattison takes every ball thrown in his direction as a personal affront.
The senior free safety loves nothing more than settling scores and proving his point. And the Ole Miss recruit gets the job done on the football field by maintaining a one-size-fits-all focus.
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“I’m a ball hawk out there and I make the quarterback not do certain things,” Mattison said. “I’m not a violent person, but I play violently and I’m very vocal. Off the field, I’m loud and funny.”
The opposition hasn’t been laughing, however.
Mattison led the way again Saturday for the Mustangs with six tackles, two pass breakups and two deflections in a 26-10 nonconference win over Niles Notre Dame at Rockne Stadium in Chicago.
Junior quarterback Ronald Smith Jr. threw three touchdown passes for Morgan Park (1-1), while senior running back Will Smith Jr. added a 40-yard TD run.
Mattison, meanwhile, showed why he’s one of the top-rated defensive backs in the country. He made a TD-saving tackle at the 5-yard line with the Mustangs leading 18-10 in the fourth quarter.
Morgan Park then forced four straight incompletions to end the threat.
“He’s the real deal,” Ronald Smith said of Mattison. “He brings a lot of highlight-reel plays to our team on both sides of the ball. If you throw against us, he’s going to go and get the ball.
“It’s truly a blessing to have an athlete like him on our team.”
Morgan Park coach Chris James also sees a talent who’s a cut above the rest.
“He hit the genetic lottery,” James said. “He’s an athletically gifted player with rare skills. He has elite ball skills and range and isn’t afraid to put his nose in the mix. He’s only going to get better.”
Ronald Smith confirmed his teammates have been in awe of Mattison being recruited by the SEC.
“Not many schools around here can say that,” Ronald Smith said.
Mattison plans to graduate at the semester break and head in January to Oxford, Mississippi. He committed in early June, fulfilling a long-term ambition.
“I always dreamed about playing in the SEC,” Mattison said. “Everything felt right there, the coaches, the environment. You can never go wrong playing in the SEC.”
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The 6-foot-2, 165-pound Mattison combines elite size, mobility and athleticism with a knack for the ball. As the deep back in the secondary, he surveys the entire field for Morgan Park.
Still, he has the freedom to roam when necessary.
“Just seeing everything, I could tell everybody where they have to go nine times out of 10 because I know everything going on,” Mattison said. “It’s just so easy to look at and see everything.”
Mattison entered Morgan Park with the objective of being the next great receiver — akin to his head coach, James, who was a standout at that position in college at Illinois.
An unplanned positional shift during a lower-level game near the end of his sophomore year convinced Mattison he had a different destiny.
“I was actually playing receiver during this JV game and I got put in at safety,” he said. “I was just getting everything, making picks, making plays. It felt so natural.
“Because I already had the ball skills. I realized I could do something with this.”
As the oldest of four kids, Mattison has the classic first-born traits of leadership and ambition. He even helps coach for his 6-year-old brother’s youth team.
Will Smith pointed out that Mattison has a mischievous personality that boosts the entire team.
Although Mattison’s father, uncles and cousins all gravitated toward playing basketball, he was always drawn to the physical, intense nature of football. His goofiness changes when it’s game on.
“I can take my anger out here,” Mattison said. “Obviously, I’d rather do it out here than somewhere else. When I hear the other team talking to me and I’m not saying anything, that’s when I know they’re scared.”
Patrick Z. McGavin is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.