CLOSER LOOK: Valley View RB Michael Harrison
Take a closer look at Moreno Valley Valley View senior tailback Michael Harrison and you’ll see the Inland Valley League’s best running back.
His 131 rushing yards and two touchdown in leading the Eagles (5-0 overall, 2-0 Inland Valley) to a come-from-behind 19-15 victory over Riverside Arlington in Week 4 prove as much.
But what you’ll also see, if you stick around for a few moments after the game, is an athlete with the ankles of a collegiate or professional veteran.
“He’s got bad ankles,” as Valley View coach Dick Fogarty puts it.
Valley View's Michael Harrison (3) is fourth in the Inland Area with 637 rushing yards.
It’s impossible to see under the long black socks but Harrison’s ankles are taped so thoroughly they’re waterproof down to depths of 15 fathoms.
To move to way he does with his ankles so stiff from paper and glue is actually somewhat amazing. At just 5-foot-8ish, Harrison blends speed with flexibility and the Eagles are getting explosive results.
I caught up with Harrison moments after the game as he lay in the end zone. He was having the layers of tape wrapped around both ankles cut away by team trainers.
I see your ankles are an issue so I’ll avoid that, I say. So… Valley View has lost the last two in this series. How’s it feel to finally beat Arlington?
“It feels goods. It’s been like, it’s been a long time since we beat’em. I think I was a freshman the last time we beat’em and it’s fun to get back at’em our senior year. I knew we were better,” Harrison said.
You trailed at halftime and then shut them out in the second half. What was said at halftime?
“Just that we’re a second-half team so we knew we had to come back and play harder than they did. We did that.”
What was the difference on the field?
“First half we didn’t do so well but offense blocked really well and the defense held (Arlington’s) run game.”
What’s with this team? You’re 5-0 for the first time in…
“It’s adversity. Adversity and our team. Be battle it all the time.”
You’re a senior. What’s next in the football career of Michael Harrison?
“I don’t know. We’ll see. Hopefully go to college and play football. It’s the goal.”
Hard to imagine one of the Inland Area’s best running backs failing to land a scholarship. Especially one with Harrison’s blazing speed and athleticism. But it could happen.
It’s a good thing there are quality JUCO options. Otherwise, Harrison’s playing career might have come to a much too abrupt end. But there’s little chance Mt. SAC or Riverside CC will get a shot. He’ll likely be settling into dorm life someplace new.
INLAND FIELDHOUSE 