The 20 most underrated high school running backs in the country
The high school football recruiting world gets bigger and glitzier every year.
As the hype around four- and five-star prospects grows, high school football players across the country who don't get flooded with Power 5 offers keep grinding away.
SBLive Sports is featuring high school football players who might not be the biggest names in the national recruiting world — but they might be soon if they keep showing out on the football field.
We started with the quarterbacks, followed by pass rushers, tackling machines and ball-hawking defensive backs, and now we introduce you to 20 running backs in line to boost their stock most this season, which many more states are set to begin this week.
Colton Brunell, sr., Columbus (Wisconsin)
After an 1,800-yard, 26-touchdown regular season on the ground, Brunell kept rolling in the playoffs, leading his team to an undefeated season and a state championship as a junior. The 6-foot, 210-pounder rushed for another 1,100 yards and 17 TDs in the playoffs, including 186 yards and two touchdowns in the championship game win over Catholic Memorial.
Dennis Gaines, sr., East Poinsett County (Arkansas)
Gaines was the top statistical rusher in Arkansas as a junior, earning consensus all-state honors and the Darren McFadden Award as Arkansas' top high school running back. He averaged 249 yards per game on the ground, totaling 3,232 yards with 44 touchdowns while averaging nearly 9 yards per carry.
Fabian Garcia, sr., San Benito (Texas)
Garcia rushed for 2,288 yards and 29 touchdowns as a junior, leading San Benito to an 11-2 record and a spot in the 6A regional finals. Garcia and the Greyhounds should compete for another top-four playoff spot in District 32 this year.
Adam Glynn, sr., Byron (Minnesota)
Glynn had 1,000 all-purpose yards just five games into his junior season before breaking his collarbone. He's back at full strength for his senior season and ready to carry his track speed (he's a member of the school-record-holding 4x100 meter relay team) onto the football field.
Cornell Hatcher, sr., Corona Centennial (California)
Hatcher is coming off a junior season in which he ran for 1,285 yards and 21 touchdowns playing a very tough schedule. He started his senior year off on the right foot in "Week 0," rushing for over 100 yards against Mater Dei, widely perceived as the top team in the country.
Zaveon Jones, sr., Mountlake Terrace (Washington)
Jones rushed for 1,448 yards and 20 touchdowns in just nine games as a junior, and the bruising 6-foot-2, 225-pound runner is poised for a huge senior season. "He is a one-cut, downhill runner that has great vision and great feet," Mountlake Terrace coach Archie Malloy told SBLive Washington last year. "He is powerful and finishes runs very strong."
Ethen Knox photo by Ryan Taneyhill
Ethen Knox, sr., Oil City (Pennsylvania)
Knox was arguably the biggest breakout star in the country in 2022 as a junior, rushing for 3,702 yards with 42 touchdowns, plus making 63 tackles and six interceptions on defense. He broke NFL star Derrick Henry's high school record when he ran for his fifth 400-yard game of the season.
Dane Nauman, sr., Marengo Highland (Ohio)
Nauman was the Division V state Player of the Year as a junior when he rushed for 2,380 yards and 28 touchdowns on 195 carries and added 114 yards and one touchdown on 10 receptions. The 6-foot, 215-pound running back helped the Fighting Scots finish 7-4.
Jeffrey Overton Jr., jr., Freedom (Virginia)
Overton followed up a 1,500-yard, 14-touchdown season as a freshman with 2,532 yards and 34 touchdowns on the ground, averaging more than 10 yards per carry for a team that put up some serious points in 2022.
Anthony Quinn Jr., jr., Rabun Gap-Nacoochee (Georgia)
Quinn transferred to Rabun Gap-Nacoochee from Seventy-First (North Carolina) in the offseason and reclassified from the Class of 2024 to 2025. The 6-foot-1 slasher was one of the top running backs in North Carolina last season with 2,450 yards and 31 touchdowns.
Xavier Ramirez, sr., Roosevelt (Colorado)
Ramirez led Roosevelt to its first state championship in school history as a junior, racking up 2,214 rushing yards and 30 touchdowns on 224 carries, averaging 151.7 yards per game. He'll try to lead Roosevelt to a second straight undefeated season.
DeCareyn Sampson, sr., Avoyelles (Louisiana)
A broken ankle ended Sampson's sophomore season early, and he came back strong and hungry as a junior. The 5-foot-11 speedster finished with 2,256 rushing yards and 36 total touchdowns to earn Class 2A All-State honors.
Antwan Smith Jr., sr., Booker T. Washington (Florida)
Smith is a bruising runner at 6-foot-1, 215 pounds who's coming off a junior season in which he ran for 1,504 yards and 21 touchdowns. With an increased workload this year, he's a strong candidate to go over 2,000 yards in his final year of high school football.
Jayden Terry, soph., Grandville (Michigan)
Terry rushed for 1,375 yards and 13 touchdowns as a freshman, and he's earned a nickname that applies more to his playing style than his size. They call the 5-foot-8, 175-pound running back "Tank."
Landon Thigpen, sr., Godley (Texas)
Thigpen accounted for a bulk of the offensive production last year for the Wildcats, rushing for 3,047 of the team’s 3,704 yards on the ground. The 5-foot-10 speedster scored 28 rushing touchdowns and had another receiving score, earning first-team All-State honors.
Trey Thompson, sr., Andrew Jackson (South Carolina)
Thompson more than doubled his production from a strong sophomore year, rushing for 2,509 yards and 37 touchdowns as a junior, fumbling just three times in 340 carries. The 5-foot-11, 207-pounder was a picture of consistency, rushing for more than 100 yards in all 14 games he played in.
Tavares Wade, sr., Hattiesburg (Mississippi)
Wade is looking to bounce back after having his junior season wiped out by injury. He put up 1,841 all-purpose yards and 20 touchdowns as a sophomore, and had 136 yards and two touchdowns in the 2022 season opener before suffering a season-ending injury. He should be healthy and ready for a big senior season.
Mason Walsh, sr., Carlsbad (California)
Walsh rushed for 1,319 yards and 17 touchdowns last year for the San Diego Section's No. 2 team. His best game came in the Open Division finals against Lincoln, when he ran for 225 yards and two touchdowns in a 28-24 loss. Walsh is also a pass-catching threat, totaling 249 yards on 15 catches and a touchdown as a junior.
Jaquez Wilkes, soph., Wadley (Alabama)
Wilkes plays for a small school, but he's a big running back who's been playing varsity football since seventh grade. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound sophomore rushed for 1,776 yards as a freshman last season in his third year of high school football.
Nick Woodford, jr., Northeast (Georgia)
Woodford broke the county single-season record for rushing yards as a sophomore, piling up 2,728 yards on 273 carries with 40 touchdowns. The 5-foot-10, 200-pound back could threaten the single-season state record (3,172) and career state rushing yards record (8,844) by the time he's done.
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-- Mike Swanson | swanson@scorebooklive | @sblivesports
