Syracuse leads for local star

Junior To Watch: Dowayne Davis

School: Bronx (N.Y.) Christopher Columbus

Position: Running back and defensive back

Size and speed: Davis is 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds. He runs the 40-yard dash in 4.42 seconds.

Honors: Honorable Mention All-City

Statistics: Davis carried the ball 78 times for 886 yards and eight touchdowns as a junior. He caught four passes for 86 yards coming out of the backfield as well. As a defensive back he recorded 96 tackles, two sacks, 11 tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries, three interceptions and 12 pass breakups.

Favorite schools: Syracuse, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Iowa, Colorado, Duke and Nebraska.

Skinny: Davis is an explosive running back with the ability to turn any play into a touchdown. He averaged more than 10 yards-per-carry and college coaches are recruiting him heavily.

"I'm hearing from all my favorites plus schools like Virginia Tech, UConn and some more. I don't have any offers yet but Syracuse and Maryland are close to offering me. I grew up watching Syracuse, so that would be really nice. I think I might go to the Syracuse summer camp, but I haven't thought about any others really yet."

Davis has a playing style coaches love in a running back or defensive back.

"I'm just really tenacious and aggressive out there," said Davis. "I love to hit. I love the contact in the game. I'm explosive from the second the ball is snapped until the whistle blows. Speed, speed, and more speed is what my game revolves around.

"I'm looking for a program with a good tradition that has national respect. The coaching staff is going to be something I'm going to put a lot of consideration into, and the academics at each school will be important."