This week, Md.Varsity caught up with Poolesville HS basketball and football star Gary Ward, and his coach in both sports, Larry Hurd, to discuss Ward's outstanding season and his thoughts on the Falcon's chances in the Maryland 1A State Playoffs and which sport he hopes to play in college.

Because he has had so much individual success in both sports, and been so instrumental in his teams' success, we were suprised to learn that the 6'2" 185 pound quarterbac/wing guard may not play collegiate sports at all!

"Gary's hearing from a lot of D-II and D-III colleges for both football and basketball, but, truthfully, there is a chance that he'll not play either sport collegiately, that he'll just go to college as a regular student and not play sports," said Coach Hurd.

If in fact it is the case that Ward does not throw a single pass or shoot a solitary jumpshot in college, his accomplishments on behalf of the tiny public high school in Western Montgomery County are still the stuff of near legend and he has enjoyed a prep career worth commemorating. Consider the following:

o Ward has been a 4-year contributor in varsity basketball. According to Coach Hurd, as a 13 year old freshman, Ward hit 4 game tying or game winning buzzer baskets!

o As a junior, Ward led the Falcons to a 19-4 record as he averaged a team-high 19.5 points a game and the team advanced to the Maryland 1A South Regional Final. He was selected All-County by the Washington Post,

Montgomery Journal and Gazzette Papers as a junior. It was the school's second straight trip to the Regional 1A Final.

o He has had 10 games of 30 or more points, 2 of those games this year as a senior. This year, through the Falcon's first 10 games, Gary is averaging 22 points a game.

o Ward hit six three point field goals in one game versus Einstien HS.

o Ward is third on the school's All-Time scoring list (with over 1100 career points) and, according to Coach Hurd, has a chance to graduate as the school's career scoring leader.

o As a senior, Ward quarterbacked the Falcon's to a an 11-0 record before they lost to Dunbar HS of Baltimore in the Class 1A South Region Final. Ward threw for 17 touchdowns and over 1500 yards.

o Ward is a 3.6 Student in Honors courses at Poolesville.

"Gary has been a great player for us. He is, without a doubt, one of the

best basketball players in the county," said Coach Hurd. "He is a great shooter, but he is also a 'scorer'. He can penetrate and get toi the basket and he makes the other players around him better. He is a terrific athlete."

"I'd say his strengths are his shooting, but also his competitiveness and intelligence. He is also very athletic and creates scoring opportunities with his athleticism. I wish more people could get out to see him and see

how good he really is.... we play really good basketball out here, said Hurd.

"Last year, we beat Blake by 15 points and they went to Comcast Center (for the 3A State semi-finals). Unfortunately, we had to go to Dunbar HS for the 1A Regional Final anfd Dunbar HS is NOT your typical 1A school-they were 6'6", 6'8", 6'10" on the frontline and they had the Baltimore Player of the Year at point guard. It wasn't really possible for us to get to Comcast when we had to go up to Dunbar in consecutive years in the Regional Final."

This year, Poolesville HS may have caught a break by being classified in the 1A West for basketball in 2003-2004.

"It was a strange kind of thing the way the redistricting worked out," said Hurd. "This Fall we were 1A South for football and in the Winter we are in the west for basketball." While it gets Poolesville out of a Regional Final up in Charm City against a Baltimore City public school power, Hurd says some good teams are lurking in the 1A West.

"Alleghany looks good. Williamsport is tough, But, yeah, it's better than the last couple of years."

The Falcons are off to a 7-3 start this year but Coach Hurd thinks the team may hit its stride down the stretch as several key hoops players recover from their football injuries. "

We have 9 football players on our 13 man

basketball roster, said Hurd. "We had 4 or 5 kids go into the baketball season injured from football and even the guys who weren't injured were pretty beat up. Plus, it really cut into our practice time. With the late start from the football playoffs, we only had a week and a half of practice

before we played our first game and we only got in one preseason scrimmage (by contrast, some 4A powers like Springbrook and Magruder got in 4 or more quality exhibitions during the preseason!). So we came into the season

pretty beat-up and without much basketball practice."

The most significant football injury was the broken collarbone sustained by star runningback/power forward Vincent Rigs in the Dunbar game. Riggs only recently returned to the basketball team and has played limited minutes in their last three games.

"Vincent averaged 9.5 points and 9.5 rebounds as a junior, so, obviously, that has been a loss for our team early this year.

He is starting to get back in shape and geting healthy, that is a big key for us."

We asked Gary Ward if he thinks the Falcons can get to the Comcast Center and compete for the State 1A Titlke this year.

"I think so. We have a good team and we are getting good play from a lot of different players. Moving from the South (to the west) helps. I think we have enough talent, we just need to all keep getting together as a team. Geting to the Comcast Center for the States would be great."

Which sport does Ward prefer and which sport would he more likely play in college?

"I like both sports equally. I've always loved basketball, but this year, because we had so much success in football, I really thought that football was fun. Winning all of our (regular season) games made football

more enjoyable this season. I think I might prefer to play basketball in college."

Gary told us that he would like to major in Marketing or Business Administration in college. He confirmed that he has heard from a number of D-II and D-III colleges for both sports, though he did not indicate if he

had a preferred college to this point.

As Poolesville's Head Coach in both football and basketball, Coach Hurd will clearly miss Ward upon his graduation. But Hurd will not be the only faculty member missing Ward.

"Gary is a great student, but, beyond doing

well academically in his classes, teachers enjoy having him in Gary classes because he is such a great kid."

POOLESVILLE NOTES:

o Coach Hurd was a great Montgomery County athlete in his own right. Hurd was quarterback on Quince Orchard's 1991 State Championship football team.

o Coach Hurd said that Vincent Riggs is being recruited for football "... by all of the local (D-II and D-III) colleges. Vincent is being recruited by Towson, Shephard, McDaniel, all of the local colleges."

o Poolesville was defeated by B-CC on Monday night, 66-50. The Baron's outstanding 6'6' junior center Christian Hernandez scored 22 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, and blocked 5 shots against the Falcons. Hernandez will likely be a Division I college prospect in 2005 in both basketball and football (as a tight end). What does Coach Hurd think of Hernandez's

potential. "As a basketball player, he is very good. Christian has good size and athleticism and some good skills. When he is really playing hard, he is a dominant -type player in our county."