By John Raffel
Ty Rollin has had a fabulous three-sport career with the Beal City Aggies, but he’s far from being finished.
This football season, Rollin and the Aggies are hoping to return to Ford Field, where a 13-0 campaign ended a year ago in a loss to Harbor Beach.
Last year was “a very good season,” Rollin said. “Obviously, the last game didn’t end the way we wanted it to. We were on top except for the last one.”
The semifinal win over St. Ignace and the district title win over archrival Sacred Heart Academy were two victories that Rollin especially cherished.
In this, his senior season and fourth as a starter, he will once again be playing running back and safety.
Knowing the system offensively and defensively “and being able to read things quicker” is what Rollin said he can do to help the team on both sides of the ball.
Offensively, the strengths he uses as a running back, Rollin said, will depend on the situation.
“I can make the guys [on the other side] miss tackles,” he said.
He also hopes to use his quickness.
Rollin is excited about the number of players the Aggies are returning.They will have most of their offense back. “We have a pretty good line,” he said. “I’ll get some good blocks.” The team will have a new quarterback, though. During preseason, there have been three players bidding for the spot, and Rollin said he’s comfortable with whoever of the three is the new signal caller.
“Everyone is returning except three guys on defense, too,” he said, noting that the team will be aggressive on defense. “We don’t sit back and wait for them.”
Rollin’s hopes for his football team and for his senior season are very simple: “To make it back to Ford Field” and to have success this time.
When asked about a college athletic career, he indicated that he is “thinking more of baseball,” and that he is “still open for anything.”
The 2012-13 school year was sweet for Beal City, considering that the Aggies were runners-up in the state in football and in baseball and were a quarterfinalist in basketball.
“I enjoy all sports equally,” he said. “I enjoy whom I’m playing with.”
It’s no secret that in all three sports, Beal City continues have impressive success. “Even in the classroom and everything, success is success, and excellence is expected, and anything less is not going to do,” he said. “If you’re not willing to give it your all and work hard every day in practice, even if you’re better than somebody, the coaches are going to take whoever gives the most heart and most effort. They tell you that from day one.”
Beal City coach Lou Rau calls Rollin, at 5’6″ and 180 pounds, his Barry Sanders running back.
“He’s built like no other,” Rau said. “He reminds me of Barry Sanders because he’s short in stature but has tremendous lower body strength and balance.”