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Glendale's Ivory looking to bring home a win for the North squad
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
By Jon Christoff Sports Writer
ALLPORT - Jarid Ivory isn't a man of many words.
When he played youth baseball, a teammate gave him the nickname "Fuzzy."
Ivory, who didn't say anything about the new moniker, doesn't know how or why his teammate gave him the name, but it stuck.
The same can be said about Ivory's play on the football field - he was never flashy for Glendale, but his results are undeniable.
Ivory and his three classmates finished their Viking careers with 18 wins, which is the most since the 1976 Glendale squad and the fifth most in the school's 46-year history.
The recently graduated Ivory hopes his scholastic success can carry over to Friday's Lezzer Lumber Classic in Huntingdon, where he will be a part of a North squad looking to avenge last year's loss and even up the all-time series against the South.
"I'm just mostly looking for a win," said Ivory of the expectations he has for the 28th edition of the game. "We had a good group of kids (in the fall) and we really liked football. It was a little difficult growing up (seeing Glendale struggle)."
Ivory's statistics might not have been all that flashy either, but his propensity to make a big play in big situations helped the Vikings to their third straight 6-4 campaign in the fall.
North head coach Lester Smeal (West Branch) will call on Ivory to line up at wide receiver, where he hauled in 22 receptions for 198 yards and a score for head coach Michael Keith.
Perhaps Ivory's biggest plays, however, came on defense and special teams.
Ivory returned the opening kickoff of the second half for a score against Juniata Valley, and a few weeks later turned the momentum in Glendale's favor in a win over Claysburg-Kimmel.
Ivory, who had 44 tackles and two interceptions on defense during his senior year, is hoping to make a big play in the passing game, despite Smeal's run-first mentality.
"I like making the corner look pretty bad when you're catching (passes) on him," Ivory said. "We're going to be mostly run-first (on Friday). We have a lot more (passing plays) at Glendale than we are running for Lezzer."
The 6-foot, 190-pound Ivory is the Vikings' lone representative, but it's a situation that shouldn't bother him after having just three classmates suit up with him last fall.
Like his time at Glendale, Ivory is hoping his play will do all of the talking on Friday.
"Me and Timmy (Sutton) were the ones that usually stepped up for us," said Ivory. "When people were doing something wrong, we'd go help them to correct what they were doing wrong. I'm more of a leader by example. I really don't remember any time where I was more of a vocal leader."
One time that Ivory is admittedly vocal is when it comes getting in a jab or two at older brother, Bobby, who graduated in 2010 and wasn't selected for the Lezzer Lumber game.
"I usually try to brag a little bit to him," Ivory said. "I always say I'm a lot better than he was and stuff like that. He just laughs."
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