Mighty Ebell

You don’t have to be a football fan to appreciate the accomplishments of Ventura High’s Tyler Ebell.

With Ebell whipping down the field, national records have fallen like autumn leaves. In a victory last weekend over Lompoc, Ebell added to his astounding yardage and ran the ball farther in one season than any other high school football player in history.

This fall, he also topped five state records and set a national record for touchdowns in one season--61.

Best of all, the UCLA-bound senior is by all accounts modest, open, hard-working and friendly--refreshing traits in a day when so many sports heroes parade egos even more oversized than their muscles.

Ebell sports a tattoo of Mighty Mouse--a half-joking allusion to his own relatively slight build. He treats his linemen to burritos every game weekend, and in interviews he never fails to praise them; earlier this season, he likened their bone-jarring work to “Moses parting the Red Sea.”

With Ebell as the team’s sparkplug, Ventura has had a terrific season, making it this weekend to the CIF-Southern Section Division IV championship game. To Ventura’s team, we offer a proud “Way to go!” for its outstanding performance--and we congratulate Ebell not just for breaking so many records but also for so vigorously showing that nice guys sometimes finish first.