Carson-Newman Football Position Previews: The Running Backs
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – – This is the third in an eight-part series that will break down what Carson-Newman football brings to the table for the 2015 season position by position. Today's preview features the Eagles' running backs with coach Nick Reveiz.
VIDEO: Nick Reveiz Interview
This position is one of the hardest hit by graduation thanks to the loss of Harlon Hill Trophy Finalist and consensus All-American Andy Hibbett and CoSIDA Academic All-American Randall Freeman. Hibbett was the Daktronics, Beyond Sports Network and Don Hansen Super Region II Offensive player of the Year.
"I've inherited some great players through the years between Brandon Baker, Tyron Douglas and Andy Hibbett," Reveiz said. "It's been fun to coach those guys. They're gone and did a great job for us. Now it's time to move on and open up a new chapter with some new guys that we're excited about."
He became the third Carson-Newman player to make it the final round of the Harlon Hill Trophy voting. Hibbett produced a season for the ages for the Eagles. Hibbett set a school record by rushing for more than 100 yards in eight consecutive games.
His 1,394 yards on the season are the eighth highest tally in school history. Hibbett secured his spot in the Eagle career record books. With 37 career rushing touchdowns, he moved past Brandon Baker and Antwon Oliver and into sole possession of sixth place on the all-time rushing TD list. He also wound up with 3,208 career rushing yards. That mark is also the eighth best in school history.
Now the Eagles turn to Damian Baker. Baker ranked third on the team in rushing yards in his junior season. He started games against Lenoir-Rhyne (11/1) and Wingate (11/15) and appeared in seven other contests. Baker tallied 515 yards on the ground on 93 carries. He scored six touchdowns and averaged 5.5 yards a touch.
"From where Damian was a year ago to where he is now is lightyears," Reveiz said. "He works hard to improve every single day."
Baker scored his first Carson-Newman touchdown in the Eagles' opener with Edinboro. However, it wasn't until the second half of the year that he broke out. He collected his first career 100-yard day with a 133-yard performance on homecoming against North Greenville to go along with his first career multi-touchdown day. He scored three times against the Crusaders. Baker followed that up with a 179-yard performance against Lenoir-Rhyne (11/1) as the Eagles rally fell short against the #4 Bears.
Joining him in the backfield will be Jamal Jones. Carson-Newman's fifth-leading rusher in his sophomore season, Jones rushed 63 times for 289 yards. He averaged 28.9 yards per game after appearing in 10 games for the Eagles with five starts. He scored four times and averaged 4.6 yards per touch. Jones had his only 100-yard performance of the season at Tusculum (10/18) when he rushed a career high 23 times for 103 yards and two touchdowns.
"Both Damian and Jamal need to bring their best every single day," Reveiz said. "They can't have off days. They're moving into that veteran role and leading this team."
Goose Manning has converted to the position to add depth and the Eagles will look to rely on freshmen Antonio Wimbush and Marcus Williams for carries. Clark Atlanta transfer Montavious Taylor, the SIAC freshman of the year in 2013 and the Panthers leading rusher in 2013 and 2014, and Michael Bush also could factor into the running back rotation.
"Antonio has superb effort," Reveiz said. "I told him to finish through the end zone in practice yesterday. He finished through the defensive end zone, which is more than 100 yards down our practice field. Taylor is a transfer from Clark Atlanta who has a lot of promise."
Carson-Newman football's position previews resume Monday with C-N's wide receivers and coach Brock Pursley.
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