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Independence RB commits to Navy

When Dom Childress missed half of last season with a broken wrist he was worried college recruiters would forget about him.

Turns out they remembered.

The Independence running back committed with Navy on Thursday after also drawing interest from East Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech.

“You never would have thought that a year ago when I broke my wrist that I’d be able to come this far and be able to go to this dream school,” Childress said. “It’s just an absolutely amazing feeling. My whole family is just so excited.”

Childress (6-0, 175) broke his left wrist in the 2013 opener against Kenwood, but returned for the last five games of his junior year. He wasn’t 100 percent and he wore a brace that prevented him from carrying the ball in his left hand.

“Oh, man, that was rough,” Childress said. “Having that injury first game of the season – I was expecting that to be my big season. I was worried that the college coaches were going to stop looking at me and there was nothing I was going to be able to do for (my junior) year. It was a big setback, but you’ve got to stand tall and come back from those.”

Childress has been talking to the Navy coaches for the past few months. He performed well in spring camps.

“Their campus, number one, is just absolutely amazing,” Childress said. “I love their program, I love their offense. It’s a speed-based offense. They need speed and that fits me perfectly. Another thing is I’ve actually wanted to be in the military for a while. They have the fourth-best engineering program in the country and that’s what I want to do is be an engineer.”

Childress has been clocked at 4.45 seconds in the 40-yard dash. He finished second in the Class AAA 100-meter dash with a time of 10.68 seconds last spring.

“Speed is my best weapon,” Childress said. “Straight-line speed is my thing.”

He also plays slot receiver for Independence (1-0), which visits Marshall County (1-0) on Friday night.

Childress is being recruited as a wing back in Navy’s triple option. Junior Keenan Reynolds, a former Goodpasture star, is Navy’s quarterback.

Childress’ father, Ira, played receiver from 1998-99 at Ferris State, a Division II program in Big Rapids, Mich. He was an NCAA administrator from 2008-11.

Childress is one of many weapons for Independence, which had six players score touchdowns in last week’s 42-7 win over Kenwood.

He has an aunt and uncle who have served in the Army.

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