Shooting stars: Texas RBs climbing charts

Names like Adrian Peterson, Tyler Campbell, Ivory Williams and Hugh Charles are all household names for people following running back recruiting in the state of Texas. But the list is about to get more crowded as guys like Spring (Texas) Westfield’s Webster Patrick and Coppell’s Thomas Pratt are having monster senior seasons and impressing the college coaches.

Patrick and Pratt’s stats are impressive and virtually identical.

Patrick, who plays for powerhouse Westfield in Houston, has racked up 659 yards on 55 attempts and reached the end zone 12 times in just three games. What’s even more eye-popping are the 350-yards and five touchdowns he had last Friday night against Converse (Texas) Judson, the 2002 Class 5A Division I champions.

Pratt has more carries but has produced almost the same amount of yardage. He’s carried the ball 87 times and racked up 655 yards on the ground and reached the end zone five times. Coppell, one of the better programs in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex each year, has played some stiff competition, making Pratt’s yards even more impressive. He’s racked up those yards in three wins over Burleson, Dallas Jesuit, Duncanville and a loss against 4A power Denton Ryan.

So what makes these two backs special and why are college coaches quickly scrambling to gobble up as much information as they can about them?

It’s simple – they’re two of the best backs in Texas.

Don’t let the fact that they’ve flown in under the recruiting radar screen surprise you because this happens every single year in the Lone Star State. Out of nowhere, poof, three or four players emerge and make their case for a high national ranking. It’s the same story as in California, Florida, Ohio, Georgia and other states where good football is played, but it just seems like running backs are the quickest to climb the ladder in the Lone Star State.

Two years ago, not many people were talking about Robert Merrill out of San Antonio before the football season got started. But he quickly flew up the recruiting charts with a senior season that saw him lead his team to the Class 5A state championship game. This past weekend at TCU, Merrill racked up 119 yards and claimed the starting spot in a talented Horned Frogs’ backfield.

Patrick and Pratt’s climbs should also be fun to watch.

Westfield coach Ron Lynch has never been one to over-hype or push his players onto college coaches. He said he believes in the philosophy that what you see is what you get and if you like his players then offer them a scholarship. But you get a hint of excitement when talking to Lynch about Patrick.

Patrick, who is also one of Texas’ top 200-meter sprinters with a personal record of 21.52 seconds, has always been fast. There is no doubt about that, but Lynch said he’s really noticed that his star back has worked hard over the summer and has developed quite a few more lateral moves to compliment his speed.

“He’s now more than just fast,” Lynch said. “He’s a complete back.”

There is little doubt about that after witnessing last Friday night’s performance against Judson. He busted out with three one-play touchdown drives in which he took off for scoring runs of five, 85 and 42 yards. It got so bad that Judson’s defenders just stopped running on several of those scores because they knew that they couldn’t catch him.

"He's one of the best I've seen in a long time," Judson coach Jim Rackley told the Houston Chronicle.

Lynch said Patrick, who is 5-foot-9 and 205 pounds, accelerates to the ball better than any other back he’s coached and by the time he’s at the line of scrimmage he’s at full speed and then he’s able to use his moves and speed to get into the open field. When he does, it’s over with.

And the college coaches are starting to take notice. Lynch said he’s not sure what teams have officially offered his star running back but he’s sure that he’ll have more offers than he can handle by the time he’s done as a senior.

Pratt might not have the speed that Patrick does, but he definitely gets similar results. The 5-foot-10, 200 pound Pratt describes his running style as more of “between the tackles” than running away from people.

“I think with my vision, I can always see the field and see where I want to go,” Pratt, who has been timed at 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash, said. “I can run outside, but I do a lot of running between the tackles and dig out a lot of tough yards. We’re still throwing the ball around the field a lot, but we’ve developed enough as an offense that we can throw it and run it.”

And when they run it, they turn to Pratt.

In his team’s first three games, he had 66 carries for 576 yards. He was bottled up some this past week against Denton Ryan, but don’t expect him to stay down for too long because he’s worked hard to develop into a solid Division I running back prospect.

“During two-a-days in my junior season, I had a small fracture in my angle and hurt some ligaments down there,” Pratt said. “I played hurt my entire junior season. I had to split time with another guy because of the injury, but I still managed to rush for around 900 yards. But I wasn’t satisfied, and I worked really hard and felt good about the season coming into it.

“I felt like I could do this. I felt like I had the line to do this. It’s been kind of nice to redeem myself and show everybody that I have the tools to be a great running back. This is my break out year.”

Pratt said he’s noticed that more and more coaches are starting to inquire about him at school and he just received his first phone call recently from SMU. The regular suitors via mail are Colorado State, Louisiana Tech, Houston, Tulsa and Missouri, but he also knows if he keeps doing what he’s doing the attention is bound to increase.

“It excites me and shows me that this can really happen,” Pratt said. “I’m just going to sit down with my parents and talk things over and look at the schools that are interested in me. I want to see which one will be best for me. I’m not going to be too picky. I kind of want to stay close to home, you know about three or four hours away. I guess I’m open to about anybody.”

So, continue to watch Patrick and Pratt closely this season because both are shooting up the charts of college coaches from all over the nation faster than they hit an open hole and take it to house.