Michael Ball Does it all for Rowland
Just when you think you get a break from him for awhile, he pops up again. He’s already run circles around you from the quarterback position and burned you with several crisp passes. Numerous times you thought you had him tackled only to see him break away and make a big play.
You get so sick of seeing him that you’re almost relieved when his team scores a touchdown so you can get him and his offense off the field and see if you can get a score of your own. But no, there he is again playing defense. How can we get rid of this guy?
These must be the thoughts this year of coaches that have faced Rowland’s Michael Ball. He’s playing the best quarterback of anybody in the immediate area right now. And when he’s not terrorizing defenses, he’s…well terrorizing offenses.
His quickness and agility make him a natural defensive back and he’s turning into one of the best on defense as well.
Never was that more on display than last Thursday night in Rowland’s 48-12 win over Covina. In the in the first quarter, Ball had already done plenty of damage on offense. First he engineered an 11 play drive that he capped with a one yard keeper. On the next series he fired a strike over the middle to wider receiver Ervin Crawford who caught it in stride and raced 55 yards for a score.
It was 14-0 before all the programs had been sold but Covina still had plenty of time. The Colts, trying to desperately get back in the game, began to march down the field. Behind the passing of Billy Livingston, they effectively moved the ball all the way down to the Rowland three.
Covina Coach Darryl Thomas was feeling pretty good about things. A touchdown here and it’s only a seven point deficit and he has a little momentum back on his side. It’s still only the first quarter and the Colts have shown they can generate some offense. Then suddenly there he was again! Ball strikes again!
Livingston faded back to pass and threw a pass over the middle. Unfortunately for Livingston, Thomas and the rest of the Colts, Ball was there to make yet another play. He bounced over, jumped in front of the intended receiver, and grabbed the interception. After eluding a couple of would be tacklers, Ball broke away from the pack and was gone.
97 yards later he was crossing the finish line and for all intents and purposes, Covina was also finished. 14-7 was instead 21-0. Before the quarter was over the Colts, still reeling from Ball’s game changing play, turned the ball over again and it was 28-0 Rowland by the time the first quarter ended.
Usually coaches don’t like to play their quarterback both ways. They do at times out of necessity because of lack of depth but Rowland Coach Craig Snyder has another reason.
“He is probably one of the best athletes in the valley,” Snyder said of Ball. “They (Covina) had a great drive going and Michael made that play that really broke their backs.
Ball was directly responsible for the first three touchdowns in the contest as he threw for one, and ran for another in addition to the back breaking interception. He completed five of seven passes for 119 yards.
Ball can hurt you by land or air as he has thrown for nearly 500 yards on the season and rushed for close to 100 more. He’s second in the San Antonio in passing to Walnut’s Austin Cooper.
Ball, only a junior, began to show signs of brilliance last season. He threw for over 1800 yards, second only to Cameron Deen of South Hills and rushed for 676 more. In a 49-21 win over Walnut he had over 300 yards rushing and throwing combined.
But the nightmare for opposing coaches is that he can score both offensively and defensively. Just ask Darryl Thomas. Michael Ball is always on the ball.
Tim can be reached at tspeterson32@yahoo.com.
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