High School Sports

By HAROLD WILSON
Staff Writer

A need for speed exists on every football team.

Thanks to guys like Dominic Ward, John Tyler almost always prides itself on being able to run -- and fast.

Ward, a 5-6, 150-pound senior receiver, makes up for lack of size with quickness. He hinted at his explosiveness when he scored JT's first touchdown of the season last week, taking an option pitch from quarterback Jeremy Johnson and outracing the defense around a tight sideline 13 yards to the end zone.

In JT's spring game, Ward went 70 yards for a TD, flashing a sign, perhaps, of things to come.

JT head coach Dereck Rush called Ward a legit 4.4-4.5 (second) guy in the 40-yard dash. Ward claims a time as low as 4.3.

"You can't substitute speed and he's got the speed to stretch defenses and make them accountable," Rush said. "When most people break someone can catch them but there are very few that can catch him."

Ward works primarily out the slot, but gets opportunities to carry the ball, earning him the label "scat back" from Rush.

"I bring speed, a little more excitement to the team," said Ward, who carried the ball twice for 14 yards and added one reception for seven yards in JT's 42-14 loss to Texas High. "I'm a receiver but I like it when they hand it off to me (too)."

The TD pumped up a JT team that trailed 21-0 before the score. Johnson sold the defense on a keeper before a late pitch to Ward.

"Toka (Johnson) put me in motion to the right," said Ward, who also runs sprints and relays for the track team. "I came on, went behind him. He took a hit for me, held the ball to that last second. I just ran it on in."

Being undersized and quick, Ward has a number of older running backs to pattern his game after.

JT's 1994 state championship team featured a starting back in Michael Price roughly the same size as Ward. Price rushed for more than 1,200 yards, and averaged more than eight yards per carry to lead a crowded backfield.

A pair of RBs with Oklahoma State connections inspires Ward as well.

Barry Sanders played his college ball for the Cowboys before a pro career with the Detroit Lions led the 5-8 back to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Recent JT graduate Kendall Hunter, now a sophomore at Oklahoma State, stands 5-8 like Sanders. Hunter rushed for more than 100 yards and two TDs in his first start last weekend at Washington State.

After trying to penetrate a big Texas High front that averaged more 250 pounds, Ward and Co. prepare for what figures to be a tougher task Friday at Lufkin. The Lufkin d-line, which helped shut out Robert E. Lee in the second half of last week's victory, is led by what many consider the top defensive lineman in the nation, 6-3, 280-pound senior tackle JaMarcus McFarland.

"I don't pay attention to other people's size," said Ward, who was encouraged by Hunter to beat Lufkin, in particular, the last time the two talked. "If you know what to do with the ball you know what to do with it. You have to have the heart. I just love playing football. I've been playing since I was a kid."

When away from the field, Ward likes to draw and play video games. He visualized what it would be like to combine all three and draw up the perfect, video-game type run in real life.

"It would be a reverse," revealed Ward, who after getting sick during the spring took JT running back coach Sam Padgitt's advice to gain weight and hit the weight room harder. "It would be an option, with trips on the right and me in the middle. I'd come back around and get the pitch. (Reginald) Carroll is going to lead out (blocking). I'd pretty much try and outrun everybody."

JT showed big-play potential against Texas High -- nine gains of 18 yards or more -- but not enough points as a result.

"We're going to get it going," Ward said. "We just can't have defense (play well) first half, offense (play well) second half. We have to put it together. We're going to need everybody to play a role."

LIONS' TALES:

Several Lions are nursing injuries heading into the Week 1 showdown with Lufkin Friday at Abe Martin Stadium.� Among the nicked up, all questionable for the game, include junior linebacker Cliff Caldwell (shoulder), senior lineman Reginald Carroll (knee), senior safety Correy Wilson (wrist) and senior end Alijah Williams (hand), who is expected to play a limited role after missing the Texas High game.

Dominic Ward
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