Two Southeastern Conference schools, including the defending BCS champion Alabama Crimson Tide, have expressed interest in a running back who will enter his 2010 season with more than 5,700 career rushing yards.
That running back, Ryan Brumfield, from Owen J. Roberts High School in Pottstown, has also generated interest, but no offers, from a trio of Big East programs – Pitt, Rutgers, and Syracuse.
Brumfield capped his second consecutive season with 300+ carries in 2009, finishing with 349 carries for 2,719 yards and 41 touchdowns. He also caught 11 passes for 168 yards and two additional touchdowns as a receiver and completed three of four passes for 149 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Brumfield’s 2009 performance came on the heels of a 342-carry, 2,264-yard, 20-touchdown performance in 2008.
For his career, Brumfield has run for 5,756 yards and added 643 receiving yards. He’s scored 71 touchdowns – 66 rushing and five receiving. He even threw a 30-yard touchdown pass as a sophomore.
To say that Brumfield is the heart and soul of the Wildcats’ football team would be a gross understatement. He accounted for 66.9 percent of Roberts’ total offensive yards; 85.3 percent of the team’s rushing yards; and 67.5 percent of the team’s single-season record 385 points scored.
A potential worrisome stat for some recruiters might be Brumfield’s wear and tear from a high number of carries. He’s toted the rock 860 times thus far in his career (169 in ’07; 342 in ’08; 349 last year). It’s been said that running backs only have so many carries in them before they wear down.
A little-known record, the state’s standard for rushing attempts in a career, belongs to former Southern Columbia running back Jerry Marks, who registered 1,071 carries between 1984-’87, according to Pennsylvania Football News. Marks ran for 7,075 yards.
Owen J. Roberts, a “AAA” school in the Pioneer Athletic Conference, is the owner of a 21-5 record the last two seasons.
