Falcons halfback tightens grip on football, position

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Sep 24, 2006 | by DAVID RAMSEY Gazette Sports columnist

LARAMIE, Wyo. - Chad Hall looks like the ideal candidate to play halfback for a junior high team. He's 5-foot-7 and says he weighs 175 pounds.

But don't let his frame fool you. He's the prime reason Air Force's wishbone offense is terrifying defenses again.

He combines sprinter's speed with surprising toughness. On Saturday, he ran around the Wyoming Cowboys, and he ran right through them. He gained 122 yards, scored a 27-yard touchdown and pushed the Falcons to a 31-24 victory that was more convincing than the score.

Hall, a junior, plays with ferocious energy and declines to indulge in fear. Just ask John Wendling, Wyoming's 225-pound safety who specializes in wicked hits.

Midway through the third quarter, Hall swept left and found the corner shut off. He veered to the middle, straight into the jaws of the defense where Wendling awaited him.

Hall didn't hesitate. He smashed straight into Wendling, carried him a couple of yards and inspired a mini-celebration on the Falcons' sideline. Jemal Singleton, Air Force's running backs coach, cheered the loudest.

"That was Chad taking the battle to Wendling and winning," Singleton said. "I tell him that every once in a while you've got to step in the ring and throw a punch. That was a punch."

Singleton laughed as he thought back to the collision. It offered the spectacle of a lightweight battling a heavyweight.

And it revealed a running back who is starting to understand his potential.

Hall did not stroll into this season with coaches shouting his praises. He was best known last season for his fumbling, including a drop that clinched a loss to Army. He said he collected "four or five" fumbles, enough to earn a warning from coach Fisher DeBerry that continued carelessness would leave him on the bench.

Singleton saw past the mistakes. He had watched closely last season, and could sense Hall's potential. He saw the fastest player on the team. He saw a player willing to overcome his lack of size by spending hours in the weight room. Singleton was beginning his first season as running backs coach, and he wanted Hall to start anew.

"Everybody looked at his fumbles," Singleton said. "I looked at the fight that he has, the work ethic that he has. I was excited."

Singleton, a 1999 AFA graduate, can relate to Hall. Singleton played halfback and he, too, was once known for fumbling. In the offseason, he told Hall he believed in him, with a few reservations. He commanded Hall to adjust his ball-carrying technique.

The coach revived a faltering career. Hall wants to someday coach football, and he's found his ideal role model.

When the Falcons threaten with consistent running from their quarterback, fullback and halfback, defenses are doomed. The Falcons offense dominated Saturday, rushing for 327 yards and controlling the ball for more than 40 minutes.

The Cowboys obviously had watched film of Air Force's nearupset against Tennessee. Wyoming chose to focus its attention on fullback Ryan Williams.

The plot failed. With the middle shut down, Hall scooted around the outside, sprinting to some yards, muscling to others.

He doesn't worry any longer about last season's struggles. He's found a coach who believes in him, and now he believes, too.

Columnist David Ramsey can be reached at 476-4895 or david.ramsey@gazette.com