JACKSON — Fred Ward knew he had to intervene.
He watched last week as Channing Ward stalked off the field and then got into a heated exchange with Aberdeen High School football coach Chris Duncan during their game against Winona in the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 3A North State championship.
Duncan didn”t want to hear any of Channing Ward”s noise, so sent him to the bench, where he continued to fume about players chop blocking him and hitting him in his ankles while assistant coaches tried to calm him down.
Fred Ward didn”t hesitate. He moved behind the row of Bulldogs near the bench area close to Channing Ward and had a few choice words for him. Not all of the words were whispered.
The incident became an afterthought later in the evening as Aberdeen completed a 28-0 victory to win the Class 3A North State title.
But Duncan has spoke several times about how Fred Ward has matured this season as a senior, which makes his decision to get in the face of an emotional teammate and attempt to calm him down even more impressive.
“I think that is maturity,” said Duncan, who didn”t think Ward would have intervened last year like he did Friday. “Having another coach on the field is having players who step up and know what is at stake. Coaches can get on a player, but when players get on players that is 100 fold better having those type of leaders.”
Fred Ward will try to bring that same mind-set to the field at 11 a.m. Saturday when Aberdeen takes on Forest for the Class 3A title at Mississippi Memorial Stadium in Jackson.
Last year, Aberdeen lost to Tylertown 34-20 in the Class 3A championship. The 2010 Bulldogs are different from the program”s 2009 spread version. Aberdeen relies more this season on a tough running game, led by senior Victor Hodges.
The Bulldogs also have come to rely more on Fred Ward, who knew ever since the loss to Tylertown he had to do more.
“Last year, I was still young and I wasn”t mature,” Ward said. “I was just going to games just to play. Now I know I have a mission to do: To mature-up and lead my Bulldogs to a state championship.”
Ward wasn”t sure if he would have stepped forward and challenged Channing Ward to calm down and to regain his focus. He said he has known Channing Ward for a long time and has been around him all of his life, which might have made the decision easier.
Still, in the heat of the moment, it was the move of a leader.
“I was trying to get him to calm down and to stay focused because we were already winning the game,” Ward said. “I didn”t want to see him get out of his game mode. I just told him to calm down and not to let that stuff get to him.”
Fred Ward, who isn”t related to Channing, said he is more disciplined and more willing to take coaching this season. He hopes to continue his maturation at the next level, possibly Itawamba Community College. He has been told ICC is considering a scholarship offer to him, which if it pans out he could use to continue to grow and to move on to play football at the University of Mississippi.
“I have a long way to go,” Ward said. “I have to become a better leader.”
Duncan calls Fred Ward a “coach on the field” because of his ability to lead his teammates, especially on the offensive line, where Ward has been a starter for three years.
“He has been a leader at practice, running sprints, and doing what he is supposed to do,” Duncan said. “That is something last year we lacked a little bit at times. He has matured as a player and he is playing about as good as anybody we have got.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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