Marcus “The Horse”
Name: Marcus Lattimore
School: Byrnes (Duncan, S.C.). Position: Running back. Year: Junior
Size: 6-1, 204. Speed: 4.46 40. Vertical jump: 32 inches
Career stats: 3,848 yards, 49 TDs. Team record: 28-1. College offers: 20
Saturday: South Carolina 4A-1 state title game, Byrnes (13-1) vs. Sumter (12-2) at Clemson, 3 p.m. (EST)..
Other S.C. title games at Clemson: Friday, 4A-II, Northwestern (13-1) vs. South Pointe (14-0), 8 p.m.; Saturday, 2A, Central (14-0) vs. Dillon (11-3), noon; 3A, Chester (11-3) vs. Myrtle Beach (13-1), 6 p.m.
Video: Byrnes football page
Related stories: Good to be a Rebel.
By Mitch Stephens
MaxPreps.com
It was a sweltering summer’s day in Duncan, S.C., and the Byrnes football team was raising money with a little hometown car wash. It was getting late and the boys were getting giddy and a little tired.
All except one kid scrubbing one of the last vehicles like he’d be driving it for a prom date.
“Hey Marcus, take it easy man,” a teammate yelled at Marcus Lattimore. “You’re making us look bad.”
Lattimore usually shames opposing defenses with his stallion power and sprinter speed. But that wasn’t his foe that moment. It was the dirt and the grime pasted to the automobile and Lattimore was bent on wiping it clean.
“That’s just Marcus being Marcus,” said Byrnes booster Paul Davis, who headed the car wash that day. “I mean, here’s the star of the team out-working every one at a measly car wash. He wasn’t trying to show up anyone. He had nothing to prove. Nobody hardly noticed really. He just wanted to do a good job.
“That’s just the humble, hard working kind of kid he is.”
Lattimore has done more than a good job on the football field the last two seasons.
He’s cleaned up.
Heading into Saturday’s South Carolina 4A-1 state title game against Sumter at Clemson, the 6-foot-1, 204-pound back has rushed 269 times for 2,009 yards and 26 touchdowns.
This after last year leading Byrnes to a state title and 15-0 record while rushing for 1,839 yards and 23 touchdowns.
Last week, the Rebels, a perennial national power with at least 10 Division I athletes, asked Lattimore to carry them on his back while avenging their only loss of the season to arch-rival Dorman.
Before 17,000 fans on the edge of his every move, and the state-title game berth at stake, Lattimore carried a career-high 38 times for 268 yards and two scores in a 24-13 triumph.
Now Byrnes, ranked sixth in the country by MaxPreps, goes for its sixth state title in seven years.
When Rebels’ coach Chris Miller was asked about relying so heavily on Lattimore with weapons all around like quarterback Chas Dodge (196 of 351, 2,752 yards, 28 TDs) and receivers Nick Jones, Jazz King, Ricco Sanders and Torian Richardson (combined 149 catches, 1,901 yards, 24 TDs), he snapped back with his own rhetorical quiz.
“If you had Marcus Lattimore wouldn’t you do that?” he told Jason Gilmer of the Spartanburg Herald.
No response needed.
Lattimore’s answers are mostly strong, measured and direct. His eyes are warm and kind. He listens intently. For a 16-year-old, he’s poised and mature, much like his physical prowess.
He acts and plays like a college kid, yet he still has another game and full season of high school in front of him.
That’s largely why CBS College Sports recruiting expert Tom Lemming called Lattimore the top junior running back in the country.
“He really has no weakness,” Lemming said. “He can run inside or outside, he catches the ball and he blocks.”
Said Dorman’s Dave Gutshall, who has coached more than 30 seasons divided between the Carolinas. “He’s as good or better than anyone I’ve coached against. He’s just so good in all phases. I don’t see a negative.”
Such praise and labels carry a big, wide burden, but when asked how he deals with being tagged the No. 1 back in the country for his class, Lattimore gave a more innocent and naïve response.
“Really, No. 1 in the country?” he said with genuine surprise. “Wow, I hadn’t heard that. That’s kind of hard to believe. I mean I read that I might be No. 1 in South Carolina. But there are a lot of great backs and schools in the country.”
Lattimore’s top ranking didn’t surprise his teammates, nor did his humbled reaction.
“The thing about Marcus is you’ll never hear him boast or say anything about himself,” Byrnes starting center Dylan Bishop. “He’s one of the quietest guys on the team. I mean, he’s a great runner and a fantastic athlete, but he’s a better person and great student. We love him to death. It’s easy to block for a guy like that.”
Dodd started playing football with Lattimore in Duncan about the time their baby teeth were coming out.
“He’s been the same every step of the way,” Todd said. “He works so hard in the weight room and goes hard at everything he does. He just wants to make the team better. I think he’s the best running back in the nation hands down. We just try to get the ball in his hands and let him go.”
Dodd has seen all of Lattimore’s great runs, but the best, he said was to start the season against North Gwinnett.
“He broke one for 60 yards and he must have broke 12 tackles,” Dodd said. “His feet just never stopped moving.”
That kind of run has helped earn Lattimore his nickname, “The Horse.”
“He just runs people over,” Dodd said. “He doesn’t make a big deal about it. That’s what makes him such a great leader. His actions speak volumes and inspire all of us to do a little better and try a little harder.”
Lattimore makes no qualms about his love for contact.
He started as a defensive end at age 7 and wasn’t switched to running back until the eighth grade when previous head coach Bobby Bentley (now at Presbyterian College) saw some promise.
“It didn’t and doesn’t really matter where I play,” Lattimore said. “Wherever anyone needs me to be I’ll go.
“But I love running back now. It’s fun to play. Scoring touchdowns is the ultimate but I really, really like blocking more and more. The contact is fun for me.”
We’ll see at the next level.
He’s got offers from 20 schools so far, including Georgia, Alabama, LSU, Florida State and Virginia. The West Coast hasn’t got out much but he has heard from Stanford, Oregon and UCLA.
Nothing yet from USC, he said last month, but he’d consider “Running Back U,” even with the Trojans’ flock of backs. “The Horse” belongs with the Trojans, no?
“I’ve heard so much what a great coach Pete Carroll is,” he said. “It’s scary how good they are.”
Right now Sumter is no doubt concerned about how scary good Lattimore is.
And right now, Lattimore isn’t thinking about college or even 2009.
Like that grimy auto during the summer, he’s just scrubbing away, hoping for a squeaky clean finish.
“It’s always about two things,” Lattimore said. “Working hard and getting better.”
E-mail Mitch Stephens at mstephens@maxpreps.com.