ATH gets it done on both sides of the ball
Jeffrey Hughes (5-11, 190, 4.5) from Peoria (Ariz.) Centennial is one of those players who has equal ability on either side of the ball and his getting looks from D-I schools as both a running back and corner back.
As a sophomore Hughes rushed for 700 yards in part-time duty. His junior season as the go to back, Hughes rushed for 1,500 yards and 24 touchdowns.
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What makes his stats so impressive is the fact that Hughes was out of the game by halftime and ended the game with only about 10 carries.
Hughes earned first-team all-league as a tailback and corner. He was first-team all-state from his tailback spot and first-team all-Arizona cornerback.
In case you are wondering the difference between all-state and all-Arizona. The all-Arizona state considers all section 2A to 5A where the all-state team is section specific.
From his cornerback position, Hughes is your lockdown cover corner. In 14 games in 2006, the opposition only threw the ball about 14 times to his man. The avoided his side of the field like the plague. He ended up with 22 tackles on the season.
"Jeff could play on either side of the ball," Centennial coach Richard Taylor said. "One college coach will tell me that he's surefire tailback and then the very next coach who walks through the door says he's going to be an outstanding corner in college.
"I don't know what side of the ball he'll play on and Jeff doesn't have a preference."
"As a running back, Jeff has great vision," Taylor said. "After he makes a great cut, I'll ask him why he did what he did, and he will say to me, 'I don't know, I just did it.' He's a natural."
"On defense, Jeff has that competitive pride that he just want to get beat. Though he's only 5-11, he doesn't get pushed around by bigger players. Jeff does the pushing."
Arizona, Arizona State and most to the Pac 10 schools are looking at Hughes. Illinois is also taking recruiting looks at Hughes.