JUPITER – Mark Balbis has had a senior year to remember at Jupiter.
The 6-foot-1, 212-pound linebacker helped his Warriors squad end the season with a 6-4 record, their best campaign in more than 15 years. He served as part of a strong support system for fellow senior and quarterback Johnathan Mosley, who won the Lou Groza Player of the Year award this past December.
In 10 games played, Balbis served as a steady defensive leader by registering 121 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, 6 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, and 1 interception.
And as a result of his all-around efforts, Balbis was quietly able to score a pair of late offers from Auburn and Wake Forest.
Balbis chose Wake Forest as his college destination on the night of April 2.
“I’m really excited for the future,” said Balbis, who has a 1270 SAT score. “First and foremost it was about the academics. I wanted to go somewhere where the schooling is elite, and Wake was the perfect fit for me. Also the relationship I built with the coaches was amazing. They made the process very smooth. As of right now, I’m the only linebacker commit for 2020 at Wake Forest. I’m going in as a regular scholarship student athlete.”
There is at least one game that stood out for Balbis this past season. It came against Wellington in Week 8, when he registered 13 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks to help his team score a 27-10 win on the road.
“It was a great team win,” Balbis said. “We all came together to beat them on senior night. It was probably the best game I’ve ever played.”
Jupiter junior defensive end Cristian Orth (No. 21-ranked overall player in Palm Beach County; Class of 2021) was impressed with how Balbis performed throughout this past season.
“Mark is a great leader,” Orth said. “He helped show me things that I can do as a leader for the team this year. He’s an incredibly hard worker who always kept everyone working and on their toes. He motivated all of us during our workouts or at practice. He’s also a great role model with how he holds himself in school, with how dedicated he is in class, and how he is with football. From a playing standpoint, he’s a hard hitter that just makes plays no matter what the circumstance is.”
Balbis recapped this past season in his own words.
“It’s about the team believing in ourselves,” Balbis said. “We understood as a group that it wasn’t going to take a day to turn around our program. We had to work and continue to push ourselves to be better everyday. It is now the Jupiter mentality of determination to be better than we were last year. Jupiter has the best students and best culture. We were able to remind the students what football means to this town. Now we fill the stands, and we will fill the stands for years to come.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Wake Forest Football
