MaxPreps 2012 football POY Derrick Henry catches up at Alabama

At 6-foot-4, 240 pounds Derrick Henry was no mirage. What I saw of the Yulee (Fla.) running back for just one week in 2012 was the most dominating prep player I'd ever seen. At least offensively.

Of course, that's why I went to Yulee. To watch Henry break the most coveted high school sports record certainly in football history — the career rushing mark that had stood for 59 years.

But unlike basketball, baseball, and pretty much any other sport, the very top of the food chain in the prep football world doesn't always translate immediately to the college game, and that was demonstrated by Henry's freshman season at Alabama.

In his first 11 games he rushed for a total of 294 yards, which was less than he averaged per game his senior season when he amassed 4,261 yards and 55 touchdowns. For his career, he broke the mark of 11,232 yards of Ken Hall (Sugarland, Texas) and finished with 12,124.

The night I saw him, he carried the ball a staggering 58 times for 482 yards in a 41-26 Florida 4A first-round playoff win over Taylor County. He broke the mark with a 52-yard TD run early in the second quarter, breaking past two perfectly-positioned would-be tacklers, stiff-arming another and sprinting the final 40 yards untouched.

He raised his hands while walking back to the sideline knowing he had broken the land-standing record. His thoughts?

"It's over," he said. "I was happy to get it and to get a little rest. But I knew I had to get out there and help my teammates win a game."

It was that team play and humble nature that struck me while meeting the lad. He was a giant fish a small pond, but he didn't act like it. He knew the roles would be reversed going to perennial national power Alabama and during the season he normally watched, Henry felt largely in a fish bowl.

He finally broke loose in the last game of the season versus Oklahoma with 100 yards rushing, 61 receiving and two touchdowns on just nine touches in a resounding 45-31 Sugar Bowl win.

Henry scored on a 43-yard run midway through the third quarter and on a 61-yard pass from A.J. McCarron midway through the fourth quarter. He not only survived his freshman season, he now heads into his sophomore year sprinting full throttle.

In a story by Marq Burnett of the Anniston Star, Alabama coach Nick Saban called Henry's spring thus far "outstanding" and "fabulous."

"He's playing just like he left off," Saban told reporters. "He's got a lot of confidence now. He understands what to do, he plays fast, he's very physical. He's had an outstanding spring thus far."

On Wednesday, Saban praised Henry some more.

"He works really hard," he said. "He runs really hard. He plays with lot of toughness. He gets it. Very conscientious guy. He sets a great example. Physical in the way he plays. Very conscientious and pays attention to detail."

Henry, who graduated early from Yulee in Dec. of 2012, told Burnett of his freshman year: "In high school, they have players that are good, but everyone isn't great like they are here. During my first practice here, I was like, ‘Oh snap. Everybody's flying round.' It was kind of crazy. As you go on, you kind of get used to it and everything slows down. You start playing better."

It appears sitting and watching to start his freshman year may have been more beneficial than actually playing.

"It taught me a lot. It humbled me," he said. "Everything isn't just going to come to you. You have to work for it."

A month of practice leading up to the Bowl game is where Henry started to turn heads. He said he ran the ball better and was more comfortable. He blocked better, a big weakness early on.

"During the Oklahoma game, I could tell that they didn't want to tackle me," he told Burnett.

Who likes to tackle freight trains?

T.J. Yeldon and Kenyan Drake, the two tailbacks who rushed for 1,200 and 700 yards last year, will be back for their senior years. It appears Yeldon has held off Henry for starting duties for now. But Henry has passed Drake.

New offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin will likely make the final call, along with Saban of course. Alabama opens its season Aug. 30 in Atlanta against West Virginia.

"I'm just focused on getting better and becoming a complete player so I can have the opportunity to be on the field more than I did last year," Henry told Burnett.