BEST RUNNING BACKS IN TSSAA HISTORY

[treestreetbill]

Terry Copeland was a pretty good high school runningback from 1992 thru 1994 at Science Hill. All-time leading rusher in Science Hill history.

[D_B_34]

THank you NCS03...  THe numbers don't lie

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You are all to young to remember Bill Wallace of Richland in the Late 80's

lead richland to the clinic bowl.

5'9' at the most and almost 5000 yds in 3 years

and he run the old Single wing

for all of you young folks thats like the shotgun formation

only you run it 80-90% of the time

Just think of the pounding he had to take

and never missed a play.

[HiwasseeVol]

Scotty Whitt also had that natural spin move you don't see that often. Size to boot. He could have played WR, linebacker, or DB in college, but no university would touch him with a ten foot pole.  Coach Jim Gaylor once was asked how fast was Whitt, and he replied that it was according to who was chasing him.  Jermaine Shepherd played for Clinton a few years later, and Ohio State wanted him, but he just didn't have the grades.  He was more of a receiver, but was an excellent running back.

 

Going back 30 some odd years ago, no one has mentioned David C. Fritts from Clinton.  He's probably the best running back I've seen in high school.  UT and several other colleges wanted him, but his knees had been shot since Little League. He did have a successful career at MTSU, and I see his name in the newspapers quite a bit lately. Fritts' teammate, Terry Moore, did get a scholarship to UT and started at fullback. What a 1-2 punch back in those days.  Terry's dad, Allen, was a standout at Coalfield High School in the late 1940's. Dang, are we allowed to mention these ancient people?

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To me David C. Fritts would have been the best since Albert Davis if his knee had not been injured. I thought he first committed to Vanderbilt and then wound up at MTSU, but that was a long time ago. Do you remember the team with Hubert Simpson? (I can't remember the school), but he was unstopable in high school. You just had to hope that you had the ball last.

[TnVols23]

Jamel Sankey, Alcoa

[TennesseeGator]

You've got to be kidding right?  If Brandon Myree had not left Alabama and went to Pittsburgh, where he started Beard would have never seen the field.  Also, Fleming played a different position in college and was one of the best in the natiion at that position.  Fullback if you don't understand what I'm talking about.

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I know Fleming played fullback, but he also played some tailback and didn't take advantage when giving the chance. I remember he just couldn't get it going against my Gators in the Rain Bowl in Zook's debut year. If he was the best ever in the state then he shopuld've beat out the younger guys like Cedric Houston and J-Train. Yes I know they were great HS players and both are pretty good college backs but if Fleming was the best ever in TN HS then he should've beat out younger guys when he was giving the chance and yes he was giving the chance. Yes Miree did transfer to Pitt which gave Beard the chance, and what did Beard do? He took advantage of it, no I am not saying he was a SEC all RB but he was good. Also add in the equation that Onterrio Smith was kicked off UT's team giving Fleming a chance at RB. Yes Fleming was a pretty good FB, but his career was nothing compared to former UT FB's such as Shawn Bryson and even Will Barthlomew(sp?)(Opponents hated match up's against those guys )Although Fleming was an all around pretty good FB.

 

My comment was directed to the poster who said Beard was overrated, he played against quality HS competion(unlike Fleming) and did good. He was giving a chance to play RB at Bama and he took advantage of it, unlike Fleming.

 

Notice I did have Fleming on my list because his stats speak for themselves, but his quality of competion does not speak for itself. Same said about Tripp Tucker(who also was onmy list).

 

Yes it is kinda unfair to compare Fleming's college career to Beard's because they played different positions.

 

I am just curious to why the above poster thinks Santino is considered overrated?

[BamaFaninTN]

gentlemen - as a young student, future headmaster, and avid follower of the tssaa, i must dictate my knowledge and opinions onto this current post.

 

the most dominant tailback i have ever seen play inside the state of tennessee is jackson central mary's al wilson, who was an all american at ut-knoxville and is an aspiring all pro linebacker with the denver broncos. in 94 he led his team to the 5a finals despite a lack of leadership from the coaching staff and an overall consensus of talent.

 

since i'm only twenty years old and have merely war stories from my father and his colleagues, bob latimer (mba) and john overton (common sense) are out of my realm of knowledge and therefore are uncategorizable. But in terms of being nearly impossible to stop i'd have to give that honor to the duo of kirsten biggurs and tito lee. Given, Tito was a fullback, he had the makings of an incredible college runner had tragedy not stricken his life, family, and community. Together, they made up the heart and soul of a Brentwood Academy team that was ranked inside the top 5 of USA Today's Top 25. And for an MBA kid to admit that means they were something special.

 

the most dynamic backs to play in the past fifteen years have unquestionably been bga's troy flemming and franklin's fred lane. fast, versatile, and big, they have been without question the state's most worthy professional running backs (i never had the privilege of watching little man stewart run the ball).

 

honorable mention includes theo townsend, gerald riggs, jonas rodriguez, ralph king, sean waller, mobly from cbhs (sorry i dont remember your first name) johnathan shaub, marion county's eric westmoreland, riverdale's alvin duke and of course clarksville northeast's travis stephens.

 

in truth the discrepancy between class divisions limits my insight into the talents of each region. forgive me for my misgivings, thank you for your time, and i hope my limited knowledge of mt football has brightented your day/night. Thank you and goodnight.'

Edited August 17, 2004 by BamaFaninTN

[volfan80]

I played Santonio Beard and i have to agree with him being over rated. I think the best running back that I ever played against was a guy from Whitehaven named Ronte Langs. He was the real deal but went on to play Baseball in the minors. Kyle Gowen from MUS was no slouch either. He didnt strike fear in you from looking at him but if you ask anyone that played against him they will tell you that he was one of the hardest guys to tackle. He put up like 1800 yards as a soph in 4A public/ private division and was plagued by injuries his senior year but he was a good one. He was a really good back. But from all the teams I played against or watch play I would say Ronte Langs was the best I saw. Fleming was good and the BA backs from the 90's (esp. Tito) were good as well but my vote is for Ronte'

[NWTennSports]

Well, my nomination would be better off in the "shoulda been great" category: Mario McElrath of Union City in 1999 and 2000. ... Had a great breakout season as a sophomore when starter in front of him was booted off team, won Mr. Football as a junior, leading Golden Tornadoes to state title game, but was then booted himself for a gun-related incident. On the bright side, he's one of the greatest running backs in the history of our state's juvenile correctional facilities.

[Bigwheel11]

James Taylor. JT. White House. 1988-1991. At least locally. He was the bomb.

[Sidetrain]

You are all to young to remember Bill Wallace of Richland in the Late 80's

lead richland to the clinic bowl.

5'9' at the most and almost 5000 yds in 3 years

and he run the old Single wing

for all of you young folks thats like the shotgun formation

only you run it 80-90% of the time

Just think of the pounding he had to take

and never missed a play.

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And could deliver a hit.

[Guest mathman]

You guys are forgetting Rickey Blake from Lincoln County. He eventually ran for the Dallas Cowboys before ending his career with an injury.

[LA Wildcat]

i played for livingston academy 94-98, and the best tailback i had ever played against was travis adams from lenoir city, this guy was unreal, great speed and could break tackles, he was awesome, they beat us in double overtime by a field goal after we had missed three ourselves from the 2 yard line