Ballard gives his all for Notre Dame
As long as he’s been part of Notre Dame High School’s football program, Ricky Ballard has always been a leader, has always wanted to win.
Just how much the senior and two-way contributor wanted to win was certified Friday night as the Fighting Irish rebounded again and again to secure a 57-46 victory at Mississippi power Calhoun City.
“He’s always been such a great leader and a vocal leader, always a hard worker,” said Notre Dame coach Charles Fant, whose team improved to 4-2.
Of the game’s 151 plays, Ballard, a running back and strong safety, played 131.
“The only time he comes off the field is when he asks for or if we give him a break on offense,” Fant said. “I knew Friday that he was tired. I told him, ‘Don’t let the troops see you’re tired, because they feed off your energy.’ From that point on, he was unreal.”
One side would come up with a big play only to be answered by the other in a touch-and-go contest that would be taken by the strongest team. Ballard did his best from the beginning — he caught a 79-yard touchdown pass from Alex Darras and had two touchdown runs on his way to 167 rushing yards — but with his team leading by a scant four points, he put the finishing touches on the Irish’s win.
With 61 seconds left, Ballard broke 40 yards for his third rushing score.
“He really was a man. As time was running down I said, ‘Let’s either run the clock down or do what we can to put it away.’ He took it 40 yards to seal the deal,” Fant recalled. “I’ve never seen Ricky like that. It was incredible.”
For his efforts, Ballard has been selected by the Times Free Press sports staff as the Waffle House All-Star player of the week.
Ballard earned a defensive reputation during previous seasons. Few teams throw in his direction or run to his side of the field, but he has occasionally struggled offensively. He was often injured as a sophomore, and last year he was little more than an understudy to Best of Preps running back Austin Banks.
Now he’s making a major impact on offense and defense. When asked if Ballard changed overnight, Fant replied, “I think it was due to the fact that we challenged him.”
“Last year we had Austin, who was so explosive, and Ricky was key for us defensively,” Fant said. “Now that he’s an offensive weapon, people are seeing what he can do — opportunity met effort and hard work. But Friday I told him I didn’t want to see that you look tired, that the offensive line looks to him. He never looked tired that third and fourth quarter, and then he finished the game for us.”
Ballard (6-foot-1, 185 pounds) is likely to play in college. Among those schools that have expressed interest through conversations with Fant are the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Memphis, Middle Tennessee, Wake Forest and Western Carolina. Georgia Tech has had conversations with Ballard, asking him to visit for a game.
“He could be a quality receiver,” Fant said, “but I think his future is defensively, because he’s so physical.”
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter. com/wardgossett.