Last year, the De La Salle Spartans of the East Bay Athletic League (EBAL) finished the season 13-2 and won the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) state Open Division title. The defense gave up only 204 points over those 15 games and returns some highly sought after seniors including Dylan Wynn, Blake Renaud, and Antoine Pickett. One Spartan that should not be overlooked is Michael Barton, junior linebacker who has been a varsity starter since his sophomore year. He was third on the team with 67 tackles and he chipped in with one interception, two sacks, and three forced fumbles.
At 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds, Barton has been playing football since he was nine years old and he has the physical quickness and strength to be the ideal inside linebacker. This Spartan can run 4.57 seconds in the 40-yard dash, has a shuttle time of 4.49 seconds, can bench press 265 pounds, squat 417 pounds, and has a vertical of 36 inches. He models his game after former San Francisco 49er Ronnie Lott because Barton is an aggressive defender who can cover the speedier running backs, slot wide receiver, or more physical tight ends, but can also come up and be physical at the line of scrimmage.
This Spartan considers his football strengths to be his knack to create turnovers and his ability to cover running backs and tight ends that leak out of the backfield. De La Salle runs a base 4-4 defense that turns into a 4-3 when in cover 2 or cover 4. This defensive formation takes advantage of Barton's skills to cover slot wide receivers as well as providing run support. As an individual for this upcoming season, Barton's goal is to be recognized as one of the top linebackers in the league and in the region. His team goal is to help the Spartans to an undefeated season and to another state title.
During this summer, Barton has been working on improving his footwork to be able to cover the faster wide receivers. On the line, he wants to develop better hand technique to fend off the offensive linemen trying to stop him. He has been achieving these goals by working out with his high school coach, Nathan Kenion. Coach Kenion has had Barton improve his lateral quickness by lifting weights daily as well as running track, pulling tires, agility drills, and speed drills. In addition, the team would play 7 on 7 summer games with other local teams a few times per week.
With his size and strength, Barton can play linebacker or safety. The college recruiting process is early for this Spartan but he has received contact from Oregon and Nevada-Reno. He has not received any offers nor has he made any visits yet. His early favorites are west coast based schools that include Boise State, Cal, Oregon, Oregon State, and Stanford because these are the programs that he views on television the most.
Barton wants to attend a school that is a competitive school that will develop his game for the next level. He does not have a strict geographical preference but would prefer to be in a major urban city that he is somewhat familiar with. Academically, Barton has a 3.25 GPA and has not taken the SATs. He would like to major in Sports Medicine or in Athletic Training. More importantly, he wants to get a solid education that he can use when his football playing days are over.
Barton has the dedication to reach the next level. During his 8th grade year, he tore his left meniscus that required two surgeries and he broke his arm in his first game as a De La Salle junior varsity freshman. Barton spent many hours with doctors and physical therapists to become healthy and then began strength and conditioning programs to prevent future injury. In addition, the rigors of playing sports and addressing his academics at De La Salle were daunting initially. With the assistance of his teachers and the support of his parents, he persevered and now has a healthy GPA. Barton's diligence both on and off the football field are admirable.
Aside from playing football, he is also a star on the track and field team where he has placed first in the 300m hurdles and fourth in the 110 meter hurdles in the North Coast Section (NCS). Those achievements have allowed him to also compete in hurdles at the state level events. However, Barton believes that football will be the only sport at the next level for him.
Understandably for the upcoming season at De La Salle games, spectators will be looking for jersey numbers 67, 10, and 29 for Wynn, Renaud, and Pickett respectively on defense. But keep an eye on rising defensive star jersey number 11, Barton the Spartan.
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