Ford Vehicle

It was more than four years ago, but Althoff football coach Glenn Schott still remembers the first time he ever saw Jason Ford run with the football. Schott had heard the stories about Ford, a highly touted football player who attended Emge Junior High. Now Schott was about to see for himself.

“We opened camp in the summer, and while I heard about him, I was going to leave him down with the rest of the backs because we had some juniors and seniors,” Schott said of Ford, a first-team all-state selection who has made a verbal commitment to Illinois. “Well, the first day of contact with pads was on Saturday, and we had a scrimmage in the afternoon. After a while, I decided it was time to see what the kid could do. The first time Jason touched the football, he ran 65 yards for a touchdown.

Nobody said a word. But that was it — I had seen enough.” Four years, 6,415 rushing yards and 75 touchdowns later, Ford leaves Althoff as one of the best high school running backs in metro-east history. Area coaches voted him Belleville News-Democrat Large-School Football Player of the Year as he edged out East St. Louis lineman Brandon Harold. East St. Louis coach Darren Sunkett, who guided the Flyers to the Class 7A semifinals, shared Coach of the Year honors with Granite City’s Matt Martin.

Martin helped the Warriors make their first state playoff appearance in 16 years. Not a bad accomplishment when you consider the likes of those who came before, including recent stars like former Althoff great Hickey Thompson, Chris Moore and Terry Hill of East St. Louis and Billy Greenwald of Highland — players the soft-spoken Ford surpassed in becoming the St. Louis area’s all-time rushing leader. Ford’s 6,415 yards are the fourth highest in Illinois High School Association history.