'05 FL RB Mike Ford (Alabama signee; Hargrave; South Florida signee)

[BuckNutty]

http://www.ohiostate.rivals.com/view...p?pr_key=29050




Mike Ford
Sarasota (FL)
Sarasota
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 200 pounds
40-yard dash: 4.5 seconds

Biography:
Everyone likes football players – guys that just know how to play and make it enjoyable when you watch them. Mike Ford is one of those guys. He never leaves the field. Whether it’s running the ball, defending the pass, or on special teams, Ford is always making plays. He averaged 120 yards a game last season and really went off on opposing defenses at the end of the season. Ford brings a lot of instincts, toughness, and competitiveness to the table. Oh, and speed too. On the track, Ford has been timed at sub 11.0 in the 100m. He’ll continue making plays this season and then someone will be getting a fast, instinctive, and productive back for the next level.

Ford's height is listed at 6'0" with a 40 time of 4.5 by both Rivals and The Insiders but in a Rivals article they claim he is 6'2" and has run a 4.3 40. Academics are a big question mark but Ford's coach hopes by August a lot of those questions will be answered . Ford has been hearing from Ohio State along with schools like LSU, Auburn and Louisville. He ran for 1100 yards as a junior and will be the feature back on his team this fall.

[MililaniBuckeye]

He has legs like mine...cluck cluck.

[Helpinghand]

A player to keep an eye on is Mike Ford. He is from Sarasota and could be a great addition to the Buckeye family. At 6-2 200, he runs a 10.7 100 on the track and a 4.3 40. Plays rb and db. One problem is his grades, which is the reason for no offers. Coaches from tOSU were here to meat with his coach earlier this summer. He lists the florida schools and the Buckeyes as favorites. Could be a sleeper.

Per Susan

[Buckskin86]

HH any more thoughts?

Do you think Mike has a chance to qualify?

[Buckskin86]

Ford heads list of top picks

Sarasota's running back leads pack of 21 players who are sure to attract college scouts

BY ALAN DELL CORRESPONDENT

There is little doubt that this year's junior class is comprised of a bumper crop of football players who will have college scouts drooling next season. However, before we push the clock ahead, it's time to give this year's senior class its due.

The Herald-Tribune's Preseason Super Seniors has enough talent to attract the attention of college scouts throughout the country. Though there may not be as many "sure-shot" Division I-A prospects as in previous years, some of the talent is of very high quality.

Leading the pack is Sarasota High running back Mike Ford, a two-time 1,000-yard rusher, who is on every major college's radar screen. Behind what figures to be one of the area's best offensive lines, Ford should thrive as he shoots for the 3,000-yard plus career rushing mark.

Ford is one of five area players who appear certain to be signing high-level D-I scholarships next February. The other "Blue Chippers" are Venice nose guard Aaron Stahl, Lakewood Ranch offensive lineman Tyler Rice, Riverview running back C.J. Hamilton and Booker's Steve Fougerousse, a punishing fullback, who is worth the price of admission just to watch him barrel over defenders.

MIKE FORD, Sarasota

RB, 6-foot-2, 205 pounds

The area's top-rated senior rushed for 1,000-plus yards as a sophomore at Riverview High and again last year with the Sailors. Ford has it all: size, speed, quickness, natural instincts and good field vision. He runs a 4.4-second 40-yard dash and is being courted by all the major programs in the country. Among area returnees, he leads in yards per carry, averaging 6.9 per attempt. He is a perfect fit for Sailors, who like to feature the tailback in their I formation and Ford is athletic enough to catch passes passes out of the backfield. Scored 84 points with 14 TDs last season.

http://www.newscoast.com/apps/pbcs.d...408270469/1006

[Buckskin86]

Mike has been putting up some big numbers!!

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pb...409250394/1006

Before Sarasota High's football game Friday night against Cypress Lake, Sailor running back Mike Ford and his offensive linemen discussed breaking the record.

The single-game school rushing record of 359 yards, held by Herb Haygood.

Ford and his mates didn't accomplish their goal. But who wouldn't gleefully take 251 yards and four touchdowns?

Coming off his 279-yard, two-touchdown performance against Riverview, Ford carried the load again in leading the Sailors to a 46-14 win over the Panthers at Cleland Stadium at Ihrig Field.

Ford scored on runs of 23, 32, 36 and 8 yards. Fellow back Million Murray added a 1-yard TD, quarterback Steve Karwatt threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Chad O'Connor and defensive back Austin Guidry returned an interception 53 yards for another score.

This was a potentially dangerous sandwich game for the 2-1 Sailors, a week after their victory over Riverview and a week before a matchup with Venice High.

But Ford made sure the Sailors wouldn't suffer a letdown. By his third carry of the game, he had rushed for 74 yards and his two TDs had the Sailors in front 12-0 with two botched PATs.

"He's phenomenal,'' said Sailor coach Bob Perkins, "some of the things he's shown in the last couple of weeks. It's Mike getting comfortable in the tailback position, standing up. Each practice he's developing into a great I-back.''

Perhaps Ford's greatest run was on his 8-yard score, when he headed left, into a wave of Panther tacklers, stayed on his feet, reversed right and ran uncontested into the end zone.

The score put the Sailors up 39-14 late in the third, but the shot at Haygood's record had passed. In time, Ford was removed from the game.

[BuckNutty]

Rivals Premium

The Buckeyes are still recruiting Ford. Coach Tressel visited twice during the spring but haven't been back yet this fall. He already has over 1,000 yards and 13 touchdowns this year.

[Buckskin86]

another 200+ yds and 4 TD's for Ford

Sailor senior running back Mike Ford, the area's top rusher, had 25 carries for 214 yards and four touchdowns to lead his team. Ford has 1,279 yards on the season

[Buckskin86]

Rivals premium

Ford's coach said tOSU is "showing alot of interest" and Auburn is expected to offer in the next few weeks.

[Buckskin86]

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pb...410300414/1006

Ford, Sailors in high gear

BY ALAN DELL CORRESPONDENT

PALMETTO -- The Palmetto High defense got steam-rolled by a Ford.

That is Mike Ford, as in the Sarasota High running back who ran his way into the Florida football history books in the Sailors' 42-21 victory over Palmetto on Friday night at Harllee Stadium.

The senior ran for 250 yards on 36 carries to become only the third in Florida history to run for more than 200 yards in seven straight games.

Ford tied Iverson Williams of Fort Pierce John Carroll, whose seven straight 200-plus games came during the 1966-67 seasons. If Ford gets 200 next week, the only person standing in front of him will be Travis Henry, who now plays for the Buffalo Bills. Henry had 14 straight games of 200-plus rushing yards when he played at Frostproof..

Palmetto (5-3) must have thought when Henry Ford built the Model-T at the turn of the century, he had Mike Ford in mind.

The 6-foot-2, 215-pounder looked like the "model back." His motor never stopped running as he scored five touchdowns. A sixth, which would have gone for 60 yards, was called back because of a holding penalty. He broke tackles and used his acceleration skills to outrun defenders when he broke into the open.

"I can't do it without a line. Somebody brought it (the record) up to me, but I couldn't look at it that way. I had to think of this as a normal game," Ford said. "My offensive line really helped me out. I couldn't do it without them. I was a little tired at the end, but I felt like I could've run for two more quarters."

[AMISH-SLAYER]

This Kids Name Was Brought Up On Espn Radio This Morning. Dickie V. Was Doing A Segment On Mike And Mike This Morning, And He Called Out Tom Lemming For Not Having Him On His Top 25 Rb List. I Don't Know How Much Weight I Put Into Dickie V's Football Evaluation, But I Thought It Was Interesting.

[Buckskin86]

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pb...411060697/1006

Ford, who had 244 yards on 38 carries to finish the regular season with 2,016 yards

[Buckskin86]

http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs....411130488/1075

Sarasota chews up Lely 38-16 in 5A-3

By Deron Snyder
dsnyder@news-press.com
Published by news-press.com on November 13, 2004

RELATED ARTICLES
Wave remains alive in 4A

SARASOTA — Size, speed, strength and shiftiness. That's what Sarasota High tailback Mike Ford brings to the table, and he always eats until he's full. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound senior feasted Friday night on Lely, wolfing down 370 yards for five touchdowns, and ending the Trojans' season.
"He's a freight train," said Sarasota coach Bob Perkins, after the Sailors' 38-16 victory in a Region 5A-3 quarterfinal. "Either he stiff-arms you or he drops the shoulder. Now he's added the hurdle to his repertoire. He's a phenomenal back."

Ford broke out the track and field move on his final scoring run of the evening, a 49-yard effort down the left sideline. He leapt over a would-be tackler at the 30, exhibiting near-Olympic form. The touchdown put Sarasota (9-1) up 38-10, and gave him 310 yards with 9:12 remaining in the game. But Ford wasn't done, returning to the field on the Sailors' next two possessions, and carrying seven more times.

"You get a limited number of opportunities for certain personal accomplishments," said Perkins, who said the offensive line helped persuade him to let Ford break the school's single-game rushing record of 355 yards. "It's a personal accomplishment but it's a team accomplishment, too."

"Ford just wore on us," Lely coach Chris Metzger said. "He's a big back and there's a reason he's being offered (scholarships) by everyone in the country. And their offensive line is monstrous.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pb...411130515/1006

Sarasota High tailback Mike Ford became the school's all-time leading rusher as he ran for a school- record 368 yards and five touchdowns in the Sailors' 38-16 victory over visiting Naples Lely in the Class 5A-Region 3 quarterfinals Friday night at Cleland Stadium at Ihrig Field.

Ford, who surpassed Herb Haygood's single-season rushing record of 1,717 with a 250-yard performance against Palmetto two weeks ago, broke Haygood's former single-game record of 359 yards with a 40-yard carry about midway through the second quarter. Ford has a school-record 3,459 rushing yards in two years as a Sailor.

Following the game, Ford said that Haygood gave him the blessing to eclipse his records. Haygood, who went on to be an All-America kick returner at Michigan State and the Denver Broncos' fifth-round draft pick in 2002, attended the Sailors' regular-season finale against Booker last week.

"(Haygood) wanted me to beat his records," Ford said. "When he found out that I was going for it and trying to beat it, he told me 'go ahead and work hard for it.'"

Ford eclipsed the 300-yard mark for the game with a 49-yard touchdown run that gave the Sailors a 38-10 lead with 9:15 left. On the touchdown, Ford hurdled a defender at the Lely 31 and maintained his stride to the end zone.

Sarasota head coach Bob Perkins let Ford go for the single-game rushing record on the Sailors' final series.

"You get limited opportunities at certain personal accomplishments. The kids worked hard as team, and we've got great accomplishments as a team," Perkins said. "This is an individual accomplishment, but the team shares in that accomplishment. The records that Mike has set are team accomplishments. Even though Mike's name goes on there, they know that it's going to say 2004, and they can say 'I was a lineman on that team.'"

[StoRMinBrutus]

Sorry if I missed it but how have his grades come along? He sure seems like a quality back? He could grow into a good back at OSU. I like that they say he can drop his shoulders as well stiff arm opponents and run right past people. ]

If thats true that he has run a 4.3 -40 ... WOW for his size that's sweet.

[Buckskin86]

Originally Posted by StoRMinBrutus

how have his grades come along?

I don't believe he is fully qualified yet. I think that is why some schools (tOSU) have held back their offer.