The light bulb went on in a major way for Eaglecrest football coach Mike Schmitt this past offseason when it came to senior Elijah Ross.
The Raptors’ coach knew he had a special brand of athlete and leader, the point guard on the school’s basketball team that was somewhat bottled up by the option-heavy, run-dominated scheme Eaglecrest employed last season.
So in the blink of an eye, Schmitt and his coaching staff came up with a hybrid offensive scheme that equates to fast-break basketball. With Ross at the controls, the Raptors have become arguably the greatest offensive show on Aurora turf through the first four weeks of the 2014 season.
“We changed the offense because as a basketball player with vision, Elijah can see things out there,” said Schmitt, whose team is 3-1 ahead of the start of Centennial League play Sept. 26.
“We knew that he had a knack because of being a two-sport athlete that he could run and see things down the field. He’s been lucky enough to not really take any big hits with his ability to keep things alive. …It’s different for him this season. He’s been a quarterback before, but the offense wasn’t able to showcase his talents.”
Over the winter, Ross spent early morning hours at Eaglecrest throwing the football and studying film, while balancing his vital role as a point guard for coach John Olander’s elite basketball team, with which he won a 5A state championship in 2012-13.
The extra work and study has paid off in a big way.
Ross leads 5A with 1,381 all-purpose yards, as his 848 passing yards put him No. 3 overall in the classification and his 533 rushing yards is seventh and trails only Overland running back Josh Wright — who has an astronomical 675 yards on just 55 carries — among Aurora ball carriers. Ross has already surpassed his season totals of 838 yards passing and 513 yards rushing in 10 games in 2013.
The 5-foot-10, 165-pounder has racked up six touchdowns in three of Eaglecrest’s four games, hitting the mark in an opening 69-56 shootout loss to St. Cloud, Florida, on Aug. 28, a 55-33 rout of Highlands Ranch Sept. 5 and a 49-13 defeat of Castle View on Sept. 18.
“For a guy like me and with the type of talent we have, it’s a dream offense,” Ross said.
“It’s like a fast-break offense in basketball. There are so many guys we have and they adjust to it so quick. …I think maybe if I’d had last year’s offense another year I could have produced more, but I think this new offense is way more high-powered. We’re getting plays off in under 15 seconds, which is awesome.”
Ross’ fitness and instinctive understanding of space and angles — a boon to him in basketball — make him an ideal leader for the offense. His ability to keep plays alive with his legs, avoid big hits and deliver the ball deep downfield have made him incredibly tough to defend.
Having fellow basketball players Peter Anderson — 5A’s leading receiver — huge tight end Anthony Karmazyn and his sophomore brother, Colbey, as weapons, plus running back Glenn Washington, also a top-10 rusher in 5A, gives Ross a cache of weapons he’s never had before. And Ross credits the game-by-game improvement of his offensive line, which has been smaller than the opponents in virtually every game in Schmitt’s estimation, for helping give him the time to create.
Though he definitely doesn’t want to see Ross get hurt, Olander loves to watch him and his other players excel in football.
“Coach Schmitt has put our team in a great position and Elijah’s having a lot of fun,” said Olander, who shares eight of his 11 varsity basketball players with the football team.
“I’m excited to see Elijah have that success,” he added. “I’ve seen him grow so much from freshman year to sophomore year to last year. It’s great when you can have the starting quarterback as a starting point guard with that leadership role. If he can command 11 guys on a football field and show the toughness and leadership for that, I know he can lead nine other guys on the basketball court.”
Ross’ similarities to Overland senior Austin Conway are plentiful. Both start at quarterback on their respective football teams and at point guard in basketball and possess uncommon athleticism and leadership abilities.
Conway listened to scholarship offers in both sports and opted to commit to play basketball at the University of Wyoming. Ross currently has basketball offers from D-II University of Colorado-Colorado Springs and Colorado State-Pueblo, but may find some new intriguing football chances if he keeps leading the offense to new levels again upcoming competition.
“Austin and I have been playing together since we were very young and I commend him for doing both sports, he pushes me to be a better football and basketball player,” Ross said.
“Everybody’s going to do what they think is best for them and he thought that was basketball for him. Right now, I’m focused on football right now and we’ll see what happens. I’m really thankful because a lot of people don’t really get the opportunity to play any sport at the next level, so I’m not going to take it for granted.”
Schmitt isn’t sure how the offense will fare against the upcoming gauntlet of five teams ranked in the Associated Press’ most recent top 10 — No. 3 Grandview, No. 1 Valor Christian, No. 9 Overland, No. 8 Cherokee Trail and No. 7 Cherry Creek, in that order — but he knows he has the right quarterback.
“Our kids are still learning how to work the offense, so I have no idea how it will translate,” Schmitt said. “I think we have great players and I think our players play hard and make things happen. I’m looking forward to what we can do.”
The only numbers that impress Ross, however, come in the win column. So far, the Raptors have three, but he wants many more.
With the reality that this is his last high school football season, he’s not even thinking about basketball quite yet. He’s just trying to do whatever it takes to push his team to success and enjoy himself in the process.
“I’m under no pressure from coaches or fans or anybody,” Ross said. “They all expect big things, but they just tell me to go out and play and have fun. …These guys I’ve been with on this team, I would literally do whatever I could to help them out, so that’s what I’m going to do until the end.”
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. Facebook: Aurora Prep Sentinel. IG: Auroraprepsentinel
