Battle Is Seeking Another State Title

The Jamestown football team is two wins away from a state title when it takes on Henninger tonight at 7 in the state semifinals at Ralph Wilson Stadium, but one of the Red Raiders is seeking his second state title in five months.

A key to Jamestown’s success has been the move of Sheldon Battle from tight end to fullback beginning with the fourth game of the season. With the 6-foot-1, 225-pound senior in the backfield, mostly as a blocking back, Aaron Leeper has gained more than 2,000 yards and has scored 41 touchdowns , one away from the state record. But before Sheldon Battle was throwing his weight around on the football field, he was throwing weights around in field events during the track season.

Battle holds the school record in the shot put (55-5 ¼) and the discus (176-6) and in the latter he made a toss 4 inches shorter to easily win the state title at Liverpool in June.

How easy?

The second place throw in the discus was 13 feet behind Battle.

But after savoring the state title all summer, did Battle think he would have another chance at a state championship when football practice began in August?

“I knew we had a lot of people coming up and I knew we had a strong infrastructure coming back, so I thought we had a good chance,” Battle said. “I didn’t think about it a lot until later in the season when we were doing good and beating our opponents by good margins.”

Jamestown had been defeating opponents by a good margin in the first three games, scoring an average of 37.6 points while allowing 10.6. But in the fourth game of the season against Clarence at home, Battle was moved from tight end to fullback and Coach Wally Huckno explained why.

“We didn’t get good blocking from our fullback in the first three games.”

So the move of Battle to fullback was made and Huckno hoped for good results.

“If he had fallen flat on his face, we would have been in big trouble,” he said.

But in eight games with Battle at fullback, the Red Raiders have remained undefeated averaging 39 points per game and allowing 5.9.

“I think once we put Sheldon in the backfield in front of Aaron, many things began to click,”

Huckno said. “It made the passing game more effective, we’ve been able to run him out of the backfield and his blocking has been devastating. He has terrific balance when he runs around the corner. If he goes after somebody, the other defenders frequently move aside and he delivers a crushing blow, so in effect ends up responsible for two or three people.”

Battle was pleased to move.

“I was happy when I got moved there because I really liked playing fullback when I was younger,” he said. “I wanted to block good and I wanted to run good, so it was fun for me. I think it was a good change.”

Battle also plays defensive end and leads the team with 17 sacks. So he is a busy guy making tackles on defense while running the ball, catching passes and blocking on offense. And he’s also the long snapper for punts, field goals and extra points.

So which of his many duties gives him the most satisfaction?

“I think it’s a thrill to get a sack, but I think it’s a bigger thrill to make a big block and lay the guy on his back when I’m lead blocking for Aaron,” Battle said. “I think that’s fun, too, when I lay guys on their back and Aaron runs by them.”

Battle’s best game defensively was in the sectional title win against Lancaster when he finished with 3 ½ sacks among his 14 tackles. Last week in a western Regional win over Webster, Battle’s defensive numbers were a lot lower, but Huckno noted he still contributed in a way that doesn’t show up on a stat sheet.

“Sheldon knows about competition. He’s very intense,” he said. “He was intense the whole game against Webster and he felt he didn’t have a good game, but Webster blocked him very well and put several guys on him. While he thinks he wasn’t very effective, what the average fan tends to forget is their tight end became non-existent because he stayed in to block Sheldon on almost every play.”

Battle also displays that intensity while throwing the shot and discus, but that’s where the comparisons with football ends.

“It’s really a different thing,” he said when comparing track to football. “It’s just totally different. There’s nothing that interrelates. Maybe strength, agility and quickness are the main things you can compare, but that’s about it. Track is an individual sport and I have to focus myself while in football there are 10 other people on the field with me and everybody has to click together like a Big Red Machine.”

So which sport does Battle prefer?

He smiled and with the slickness of a politician, he said, “I like track when its track season and I like football when its football season.”

Then he laughed and said, “That’s what Coach wants me to say.”

Both sports keep him in the weight room, so he doesn’t have much time off between football and track seasons.

“I started to do indoor track, but I didn’t stay with it because it is boring because it’s not the same as outdoor track,” he said. “So I took a little break last year, but other than that I don’t really have a break.

And that should have him set to go after a state championship repeat in discus.

“I do want another state title in track,” Battle said. “I think it would be fun to get another one, maybe in shot put and discus, and then come back and say, ‘Oh, I’ve got one in football, too.’ It would just be a whole bunch of state championships.”

Meanwhile, the members of the football team are seeking are seeking their first title and that’s when Battle likes to needle them.

“I say, “I’ve already got one’ and they get all mad at me,” Battle said with a smile.

But Battle doesn’t back down and repeats, “I’ve already got one and you guys need to get one.”

If the Jamestown football team gets one, Battle will be one of the main reasons.