Still football

BLUEFIELD — Ansel Ponder ended his high school football career as a state champion, playing in front of about a thousand of his closest friends.

The former Bluefield High School star began his college career playing in front of more than 100,000 rabid fans, most of them cheering on the Michigan Wolverines.

He was on the other side. Jitters anyone?

“I was nervous when I first went out there, but once I started playing and made my first catch, it was football all over again,” Ponder said. “It really seemed like as if I was in Mitchell Stadium catching the ball. I was just playing with better talent.”

Ponder always dreamed of playing Division I college football. He’s doing just that, having played in 12 games for Western Michigan last season, starting six of them for the Mid-American Conference school located in Kalamazoo.

Ponder is quite satisfied playing for the Broncos.

“I always have goals and you just set those goals and work for them,” Ponder said. “I just look at it as a blessing that I got the opportunity to represent my home town in Michigan, and just try to represent their school, Western Michigan, and be successful there.”

He’s off to a good start, catching 39 passes for 308 yards and three touchdowns for the Broncos, which finished with a 5-7 record, including losses to Big Ten schools Michigan and Indiana. He also returned three kicks for 76 yards.

“I started the first game of my college career against Michigan, I started at Indiana, and then the original starter came back and he was a senior,” Ponder said. “He came back, and I still played a crucial role on offense, but I wasn’t starting.”

That was never a problem. What he really did, though, was help his team, no matter whether he was starting against the Wolverines and Hoosiers, or coming off the bench. He also performed on special teams for head coach Bill Cubit and the Broncos.

“I really don’t worry about that, I just worry about helping the team out,” Ponder said. “I learned over the years that if you just do it for the team then you will be successful.

“Wherever our coaches need to me to help out the team, that is what I try to do.”

He did plenty for the Beavers. Ponder was an first-team all-state performer for Bluefield, as both a wide receiver and defensive back, and was also highly-acclaimed on the basketball court.

Yet, his greatest thrill was leading the Beavers to a 13-0 record in ‘07, including a 20-12 win over James Monroe to claim the school’s ninth state championship.

“I miss Bluefield, but I felt like I couldn’t have gone out anymore better than what I did,” said Ponder, whose brother, Craig, was an all-state basketball player for the Beavers this season. “I miss it, but I just like to come back and watch all the young athletes.

“I’ve still got two brothers that play and one of them graduates (soon), but I know with me having younger brothers, I love to come back and watch all the rest of the kids as well play.

“I don’t really miss playing in general. I miss being around my brothers and the rest of the kids that I grew up with, but as far me playing here, I feel like I couldn’t have went out no better.”

Ponder followed up his senior campaign by spending a year improving his skills at Hargrave Military Academy, scoring 13 touchdowns in ‘08, 11 on receptions, and one apiece on a kick return and interception return. He had 760 yards receiving, and made 63 tackles in the secondary.

That performance opened many eyes, but it was Western Michigan that came calling. He enjoyed his first season in the MAC for a school that currently has eight players on NFL rosters, including Greg Jennings, a wide receiver with the Green Bay Packers.

“I think it is a good conference, it’s just blessing to be playing for that conference,” said the 6-foot-1, 183-pound Ponder.

“Especially coming from here, not a lot of guys make it out and do anything with their ability so I feel like it is a blessing that God gave me to bless me to play Division I football somewhere.

“I like the MAC. There are some good teams in it and I know some players that played in the MAC as well, it makes it that much more exciting.”

Ponder wasted no time making an impact, catching four passes for 32 yards in his debut at Michigan, a 31-7 loss for the Broncos.

“I feel like any player is nervous if he is coming out there playing,” Ponder said. “If it is important to you, I feel like you might be nervous.

“Once you get the first play, the first snap in, you’re basically in the zone, you’re playing football.”

He also had three catches in a 23-19 loss to Indiana, and had his best performance with 10 catches for 86 yards and two scores in a 34-31 overtime victory against the Bulls.

“At first it was a lot faster, the game was a lot faster, but after I got familiar with the system on offense, I started making plays from the start,” Ponder said. “I have just got to go out there every day focused.

“That is just the main thing is being focused because my ability is there, I feel like.”

Ponder, who will turn 20 on June 1, is back in Bluefield for about a month before returning to Michigan to prepare for the upcoming season. He had three catches for 20 yards in the Broncos’ spring game, continuing to learn his craft under Cubit and assistant head coach and receivers mentor Mike Grant.

He’ll be catching passes from a different quarterback this season. Alex Carder will take the place of departed Tim Hiller, who signed as a free agent with the Indianapolis Colts.

“My coach really strives for perfection so you might could have a good game, but he is still going to perfect you,” said Ponder, who plans to spend plenty of time in the Bluefield weight room and gymnasium while back home.

“It’s like you’re always working, it’s never like you did your job.

“For me, especially being young, even though people might think, ‘Oh, he’s starting, he’s playing a crucial role’, I am still learning a lot. I haven’t perfected anything yet, I’m still working toward perfection.”

Western Michigan will face a challenging 2010 slate, not only in the MAC, but the season will start on Sept. 4 with a visit to Michigan State. There will also be a trip to Notre Dame on Oct. 16.

“I definitely see potential in us,” Ponder said. “I feel like we got a lot better physically and a lot better mentally, but we have just got to put it together on the field and just go play football at the end of the day.

“I think it’s going to be fun.”

The only player at Western Michigan from West Virginia, Ponder had little trouble adjusting to life as an athlete at the next level. After all, it’s not much different than what he was used to as a Bluefield Beaver.

“It’s pretty difficult being a student-athlete, but I have been doing it for so many years, it’s just what I do basically, it has just become who I am,” said Ponder, who is majoring in sociology, and plans to add a pair of minors. “When you do it for so many years, it is just another level basically that you take another step toward your goal, whatever your goal is as an athlete.

“Mine is to be getting an education first, and whatever else God blesses me with, I am going to take it from there.”

— Contact Brian Woodson

at bwoodson@bdtonline.com

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