TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Crash Claims East Bay High School Quarterback

Tribune photo by ROBERT BURKE (2007)

East Bay quarterback Rex Ballenger looks for an option pass during a 2007 football practice.

ADVERTISEMENT

By RAY REYES

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 20, 2008

TAMPA - East Bay High School quarterback Rex Ballenger died Monday at Tampa General Hospital after he was injured in a car crash over the weekend.

East Bay High School administrators announced Ballenger's death Monday after Ballenger was taken off life support, athletic director Scot Tipton said.

"I think everybody was just praying for this miracle," East Bay head football coach Brian Thornton said. "And it just didn't happen."

Crisis counselors will visit the school today.

Ballenger, 18, was driving west on Big Bend Road in Gibsonton about 7:55 a.m. Saturday when his 1997 Saturn hit a tractor-trailer that was stopped at a traffic signal, according to a report by the Florida Highway Patrol.

The driver of the truck, Joseph M. Ciavarella, 40, of Port Richey, was not hurt in the crash. Ballenger, of 521 Fairfax Lane, Apollo Beach, was not wearing a seat belt, according to a report by Trooper S.M. Nickel.

Ballenger had spent the night at a friend's house and was driving home Saturday morning when the crash occurred, Thornton said.

"It's a horrific thing," said Thornton, who has coached at East Bay for 15 years. "Our school is crushed."

More than 150 students who knew Ballenger visited the hospital over the weekend, Thornton said.

The football coach described Ballenger as "a live spirit" who was "always a lot of fun to be around." He didn't look like a stereotypical starting quarterback, standing just 5-feet-9-inches tall and weighing about 155 pounds.

"But, boy, he played a lot bigger," Thornton said. "He was a tenacious football player. He played with his heart. Pound for pound, one of the toughest kids I've ever coached."

Tipton called Ballenger "one of the most popular kids in his class."

"He was a three-year starter on the football team and will be dearly missed," he said.

Ballenger was weeks away from graduating with his senior class and was working on scholarship packages to several colleges such as William Penn University in Iowa and Midland Lutheran College in Nebraska, Thornton said.

The family is setting up the Rex Ballenger Memorial Fund at the SunTrust Bank in downtown Ruskin, but donations can be made to any branch, Thornton said. Funeral arrangements are expected to be finalized today, he said.

"Rex will surely be missed," Thornton said. "We're going to honor him this week in whatever way we can."

Reporter Katherine Smith contributed to this report. Reporter Ray Reyes can be reached at (813) 259-7920 or rreyes@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT