In the fifth year of Alpharetta Raiders football, the program seems to be infused with a new energy and enthusiasm. Part of that can be attributed to the 3-0 start the team got off to this year. The rest of that buzz may be attributed to a sophomore quarterback whose skill and talent may take the Raiders somewhere they have never been – the state playoffs.
Mikal Abdul-Saboor is playing his first year of varsity football and, following a foot injury in 2006, his first football action in two years. However, the budding star has already asserted himself as the leader of Alpharetta’s offense.
“He’s vital,” said head coach Bill Waters. “The quarterback touches the ball every play, and being a young kid with a lot of poise like he has makes it a plus. He has got some great athletic ability and is one of the smarter kids in school. That helps.”
Abdul-Saboor leads the team statistically in most offensive categories and is the lynchpin of the Raiders’ spread attack. Through the team’s first five games, Abdul-Saboor has rushed for 171 yards and two touchdowns while passing for 918 yards and eight scores. He averages 218 yards of total offense per game. Not bad for a sophomore who had not played competitive football in two years before the start of the season.
Abdul-Saboor attributes his immediate success to learning while on the bench.
“Basically, sitting on the sidelines last year and watching all of the freshman games, I was able to see the field better and see things that I would be able to do out there,” Abdul-Saboor explained. “Although I did miss playing, I was able to watch games and become smarter (as a player).”
His coach doesn’t seem to mind having a first-year varsity player as his starting quarterback.
“I get the kid for two more years,” Waters said with a laugh. “That’s a good thing. He’s doing some really great things, but he’s still got a long ways to go and he’s only going to get better.”
LEARNING CURVE
Although Abdul-Saboor has made a relatively smooth transition to the starting role, he has run into some challenges typical of a rookie quarterback.
“Being new on board and trying to gain the respect of the upperclassmen has been the biggest difficulty,” said the sophomore quarterback. “And getting them to trust me in a game.”
The fact that Abdul-Saboor ended up playing at Alpharetta is a story within itself: the 5-foot-11, 195-pounder almost went to Marist.
“He was accepted and was ready to enroll and went down there to watch a game,” explained his father, Mikal Sr. “But they only threw the ball three times. He saw that and decided Marist wasn’t for him.”
The talented young sophomore may get some of his ability from his bloodlines. His father was an All-American offensive lineman for Morgan State in the late 1970s and then played for the Pittsburgh Steelers during the 80s.
Although the Raiders have dropped their last two games to Milton and Walton, Alpharetta still has a chance to have a special season. And if anyone can engineer a playoff run, it is the prodigy they have playing quarterback.
Black can be reached at sblack@scoreatl.com.
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