Marcus Ballard

RB, So., 5-8, 180, Burgaw, NC

A strong runner whose legs rarely stop moving… has good speed and vision… runs inside and outside… one of Guilford’s best receivers out of the backfield… a top kick returner… enters his junior season with 1,123 career rushing yards on 200 carries in 10 games... 2001:  earned ODAC Player of the Week honors for his efforts in the 28-6 Quakers' victory over Methodist September 8 gaining a season-high 106 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries... ranked seventh in the ODAC with an average of 52.6 rushing yards per game... appeared in 10 games started four... led the team in rushing for the second year in a row (526 yards in 86 attempts,6.1 yards per carry)...  ranked second on the team with 788 all-purpose yards... led Guilford's rushers five times this season... rushed for a game-high 94 yards in Guilford's October 28 win over ODAC foe Randolph-Macon...  made seven catches out of the backfield for 36 yards and returned seven kickoffs for 226 yards, an average of 32.3 yards per return... .. had two touchdowns...   2000: Earned honorable mention All-ODAC recognition… posted the most rushing yards by a freshman since David Heggie’s ’98 951 yards in 1995… had Guilford’s highest yards per carry average since 1996… lead the team and ranked sixth in the league with 103.9 all-purpose yards per game… won Guilford’s Soup Bowl MVP prize with a career-high 182 rushing yards and one 81-yard touchdown run versus Greensboro… gained 97 rushing yards against Emory & Henry thanks to a team-best 82-yard touchdown run, the Quakers’ longest scoring play since 1989… caught a career-high four passes for 75 yards versus Catholic… led Guilford in punt returns… Personal: Earned All-Coastal 3-A Conference laurels three times for Coach Gary Lewis’ Pender H.S. football team… rushed for 2,586 yards in 23 games… named Pender’s 2000 Male Athlete of the Year… averaged 11 points and seven assists per game for Pender’s 26-4 basketball team that won the 2000 state sectional championship… won the conference track MVP Award as a senior after winning the 100- and 200-meter dashes… older brother, Anthony, ran track for North Carolina Central… son of George and Barbara Ballard… computer information and technology systems major.