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| Wednesday, July 16 |
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| Heisman Hopeful: Tyler Ebell By Kyle Melinn SchoolSports.com | ||||||
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Since the two were little kids playing Pop Warner football, Tyler Ebell and Jason Parker have had a healthy rivalry. No matter what the sport, the two always tried to outdo each other. So it came as no surprise when the two -- now playing for rival high schools - were hanging out at the Ventura County Combine last spring. They reached the vertical leap section, and Parker, a strong athlete for Oxnard High (Calif.), thought he'd show Ebell a thing or two. He leaped 32 inches, a very respectable mark.
"You know, he was feeling good and ribbing Tyler a little bit," says Oxnard coach Mark Beckham. "And then Tyler goes up there and jumps 37-38." The story shows how stunned Parker and the rest of Southern California were at the Ventura High (Calif.) running back's one-year transformation from a quality runner to one of the nation's best. Although relatively small at 5-foot-9, 175 pounds, the future UCLA performer ripped through the record books this season by gaining a nation single-season record 4,502 yards - to go along with 64 touchdowns - for a team that claimed its first football title since 1951. Ebell is California's career rushing leader and one of three finalists from the Far West for the first-ever High School Heisman, which will be awarded on Dec. 30 at the first National High School Football All-Star Game. Ebell joins Palisades High (Calif.) quarterback David Koral and Scappoose High (Ore.) quarterback Derek Anderson as the Far West finalists. One winner will be selected from each of the country's six regions. Beckham and the rest of the coaches north of Los Angeles County knew Ebell was Ventura's No. 1 threat, but Ebell's offseason workout routine, drawn up for him by his father, transformed him into something next to unstoppable on the gridiron. Even when opposing teams knew he was getting the ball, there was nothing they could do about it. Arroyo Grande High (Calif.) bottled up Ebell in the first half of the Division IV championship game, but in the second half, he broke off two long touchdown runs and ended the game with 284 yards. "When you're thinking that from day one he's been going around with a bull's-eye on his chest, his season has been unbelievable," says Ventura coach Phil McCune. "Everybody knew that if they were going to stop Ventura, they had to stop him." And yet, nobody really did stop the surprisingly strong speedster, who bench-presses 280 pounds. That's because of Ebell's remarkable Barry Sanders-like start-stop ability, which left defenders grabbing at air. He'll have a chance to show the nation his stuff on Dec. 30 when he plays his first game on Astroturf at the National High School Football All-Star Game in Dallas, Texas, a game that will be televised nationally on Fox Sports Net. The attention Ebell has received preceding the game has been intense, from radio show appearances to an interview with Fox Sports reporter Lisa Guerrero. "You know, I never dreamed of anything like this at the beginning of the year," says Ebell. "I was hoping 2,000-2,500 [yards] or something like that at the beginning of the year. I just got a great line that was just blowing the other team's line off the line. Once I got to the linebackers and the secondary, I could take care of them." It's true that Ebell ran behind an offensive line that averaged 6-foot-2, 270 pounds, the biggest being Jason Gruber at 6-foot-8, 315 pounds. It's also true that the "nastiest" lineman, 6-foot-4, 270-pound center Billy Griffin, is visiting Oregon State and Colorado. But Ebell, who played quarterback when Ventura ran the option, tallied a lot of his yards in the open field. As one opposing coach said, "He made a good offensive line look really good." When the 300-yard games kept pilling up - 10 in all this season - and the records started to fall, Ebell didn't bask in the spotlight. Even when he was told that he had won SchoolSports.com's Los Angeles Player of the Year in football, he was genuinely surprised and grateful. He says he hopes he has earned enough votes to win the High School Heisman on Dec. 30, but he says he understands. There must be several other deserving players, he says. That's classic Ebell, says McCune. "If he had let all this media attention get to his head, it could have divided this team and our season could have went in the toilet," says McCune. "But he didn't, and it show that he's not only a great football player but a great person."
Material from SchoolSports.com.Visit their web site at www.schoolsports.com | |
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