East Texas has always produced great runningbacks. Names like Billy Simms, Earl Campbell, Rodney Thomas, and Adrian Peterson are now part of East Texas football lore. But, for every Earl Campbell or Adrian Peterson, there are a thousand other runningbacks that star at the high school level. This year East Texas is positively brimming with talented tailbacks. Some will go on to play at the next level. Some will not. But, one thing is certain, these high school athletes will make Friday nights very entertaining this fall.
The area east of Interstate 45 from the Red River in the north to Trinity Bay in the south is home to some of the best runnnigbacks in Texas. In 2A alone, 9 of the classification’s top 13 returning rushers reside in East Texas. Two are quarterbacks: Keren’s Pat Faulk (2094 yards rushing); and Leonard’s Will Cowan (1523 yards rushing). The other 7 East Texans are good ole fashioned runningbacks. Anybody with the time and a set of wheels can take a tour of East Texas’ abundant talent this fall. Here’s how.
Any tour of 2A’s top rushers would have to start in Northeast Texas. Caddo Mills just northeast of the Dallas Metroplex is where you will find Nathan Jeffrey. Jeffrey is 2A’s top returning rusher after compiling 2357 yards and 38 touchdowns as a junior. A couple hours to the east in Morris County, Paul Pewitt’s D.J. Burleson ran for 1862 yards and 31 touchdowns of his own. Both Burleson and Jeffrey were first teamers on the AP all-state squad. Jeffrey averaged nearly 10 yards per carry. Meanwhile, Burleson spearheaded a Brahmas rushing attack that averaged better than 300 yards per game. Jeffrey and Burleson seem primed for big senior years. Pewitt, in particular, appears poised to make a deep run in the playoffs which would allow Burleson to rack up even more attempts and yardage. Jeffrey leads a solid Caddo Mills team and could walk away with 2A offensive player of the year honors.
Less than 15 minutes south of Paul Pewitt’s Brahma Stadium, where Burleson ran roughshod over opposing defenses, Daingerfield’s KoKo Smith was weaving his own brand of magic. Stocky and quick as a waterbug, Smith helped lead the Tigers to a state championship in 2008. Despite averaging only 12 carries a game in the Tiger’s “spread the wealth” offense, Smith racked up 1487 yards and 23 touchdowns on the ground. In the playoffs, Smith rushed for 540 yards and 13 touchdowns. For his efforts, Smith earned first team all-state honors from the Texas Sports Writers. In 2009 Smith will be part of an explosive Tiger offense that also features an all-state wide receiver in Chris Jones and an all-state quarterback in Tyler Boyd. A second ring may be in the cards for Smith.
From Daingerfield we head southeast on Highway 49 to the next stop on our East Texas runningbacks tour, where Kansas State commit Destin Mosley leads a talented Jefferson Bulldogs team. As a junior, Mosley rushed for 1210 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2008. With 4 of 5 offensive linemen returning from last year’s team, including D1 talent Trevor Murphy, Mosley should have plenty of room to run in 2009. If Jefferson can make a run in the playoffs, Mosley could easily top 1500 yards.
An hour’s drive south on 59 and West on Highway 80 in White Oak the Roughnecks boast not one but two returning thousand yard rushers. Jackson McCurdy and Junior Hamilton combined for more than 2300 yards and 25 touchdowns in 2008. Amazingly, McCurdy and Hamilton combined with Orlando Humble (now with Navarro College) to rush for a combined 3787 yards and 49 touchdowns in the Roughnecks’ bludgeoning offense. Now that Humble has moved on to the next level, McCurdy and Hamilton figure to carry even more of the load. It is not out of the question that each will top 1400 yards this year in White Oak’s run-first, run-second offense.
Arp, just 30 miles from White Oak and 10 miles southeast of Tyler, is the next stop on the tour where the Tiger’s Lavocheya Cooper shows off his multifaceted skill set on a weekly basis. Cooper, a Texas Football Magazine Super-Teamer, does it all for the Tigers, stepping off more than 1500 yards in 2008 with 18 rushing touchdowns. He is a beast on special teams, with 2 kickoff returns for touchdowns and 2 punt returns for scores. And for good measure, Cooper, an all-state safety, returned 2 of his 6 interceptions for touchdowns. Arp is ranked #2 in most preseason polls and figures to be playing deep into December which should give Cooper a chance to add to his already impressive numbers.
An hour and a half drive southeast of Arp in Garrison is where you could find Scooter Ross scooting through and around opposing defenses to the tune of 1540 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns in 2008. At about 5’8” and 155 pounds Ross proved that it’s not the size of the Bulldog in the fight but the size of the fight in the Bulldog that counts. With big Austin Lunsford, a Houston Cougar commit, again paving the way in 2009, Ross should have another big year.
Corrigan-Camden, about an hour south of Garrison on Highway 59, is home to the lightning quick JoCourtney Johnson. Johnson lit up opposing defenses for 1400 yards and 21 touchdowns in 2008. Johnson also showed off his wheels this summer when he helped Corrigan-Camden’s record setting track team capture a state title. Speed is the name of Johnson’s game, having already collected multiple gold medals at the state track meet both as a sophomore and as a junior. Corrigan-Camden has 6 starters back on offense which could help Johnson put up monster numbers in 2009.
Only an hour and a half from Corrigan and just south of Huntsville you will come across New Waverly’s Tyren Watts who ran for 1903 yards and 30 touchdowns in 2008 earning second team all-state honors. The 6’1” 180 pound Watts helped New Waverly to its first ever undefeated regular season. Tyren and his twin brother Kyren have garnered interest from several top college programs including Texas, Oklahoma and LSU. The brothers also earned a spot as Texas Football Magazine’s 2A “coverboys”. With more than 3300 yards over the last 2 years, Watts will likely end his career at New Waverly with over 5000 yards rushing.
To the southeast of New Waverly and just to the east of the Trinity River in Hardin, Mitchell Villemez put up some nice numbers for the Hardin Hornets. The District 23 offensive MVP played safety as a sophomore but made the move to runningback his junior year in order to help the team. Despite playing mostly on offense in 2008, Villemez is still being recruited by schools like Texas A&M and TCU as a defensive back. But, with more than 1500 yards rushing and 20 plus touchdowns, Coach Haynes is glad to have Villemez back in the Hornets’ offensive backfield for 2009.
The tour of East Texas runningbacks could go on forever. This list only includes 2A runningbacks, but East Texas schools at every classification are loaded with great runningbacks. From 5A Tyler Lee’s DaDa Brown, 4A Longview’s Tyler McCray, 3A Pittsburg’s Ted Burns to 1A Cayuga’s Traylon Shead.
These runningbacks may never reach the level of Earl Campbell or Adrian Peterson. But, for at least this fall, they will be the toast of their respective East Texas towns. Football fans should sit back and enjoy the ride.
