Its Earls turn to be the star
With all the running backs that are attracting attention in the Lone Star State in the Class of 2004, one name that hasn’t been talked about a lot by recruiting fans is Denton (Texas) Ryan standout rusher Earl Goldsmith.
But Goldsmith has been getting it done on the field for two years now and is hoping to get it done in recruiting, too.
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Goldsmith, who is 5-foot-8 and 182 pounds, rushed for 1,163 yards on 186 carries as a junior and scored 12 touchdowns. He was also very significant in key games this past season, helping Ryan win a second straight Class 4A state championship.
Simply put, Goldsmith came to play when the Raiders needed him most.
“I don’t know what it is about big games,” Goldsmith, who has been clocked at 4.49 seconds in the 40-yard dash and has a 245-pound bench-press, said.
“It’s just something about those big games that helps me do better. There’s just a lot of people watching and getting excited. My family members from all over come in for the big games and I guess I can’t let them down.”
He has yet to do that.
Goldsmith has been surrounded by tons of playmakers both on offense and defense the past two seasons at Ryan. But with quarterback James Battle TCU bound, the attention is going to squarely focus on Goldsmith.
He’s no longer Ryan’s secret weapon.
“Everybody would seem to overlook me and focus on stopping James all the time,” Goldsmith said. “But this year, it’s going to be different. It’s going to be a big deal for me to be the team leader and have the guys look up to me.
“I’m going to enjoy that. But we also have a lot of young guys already stepping up and guys that will be stars here in the future.”
When it comes to recruiting, Goldsmith said Texas Tech and Penn State have been by spring drills to personally evaluate him. He said his most frequent writers are Tulsa and Rice, though.
“But there are a lot of them,” he said. “It’s going to be fun to talk to the coaches here in May, but I don’t think I’m in any rush at all.”