Murray Breaks Through In A Hurry

Sunday, December 23, 2012

— Deandre Murray’s breakout moment came not on a explosive run, which the tailback had plenty of in his first season at Springdale High.

Instead, it was a punt return early in the fourth quarter of a blowout.

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR

DEANDRE MURRAY

Springdale High

CLASS: Junior

HEIGHT: 5-11

WEIGHT: 175

NOTABLE: Finished second in the 7A/6A-West Conference in rushing after gaining 1,443 yards and 17 touchdowns on 194 carries. ... Averaged an impressive 7.4 yards per carry and 144.3 yards per game. ... Broke the conference’s single-game rushing record when he gained 362 yards and four touchdowns on 28 carries in a 41-40 win over Van Buren on Oct. 12. ... Showed his versatility, catching 11 passes for 145 yards and returned a punt 91 yards for a touchdown.

By the time Murray fielded the punt at his own 9, Springdale held a 21-0 lead over Batesville in its Aug. 31 season opener at Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium. A few quick moves and 91 yards later, the junior had scored his second touchdown of the night, embarrassing several defenders in the process.

“He only got to return four more punts the rest of the year,” Springdale coach Shane Patrick said. “Nobody kicked to him.”

Murray said the 91-yard punt return — which Patrick called “mind-blowing” — was the moment when he figured he’d have a good season at Springdale.

But few could have expected the 5-foot-11, 175-pound junior to break the 7A/6A-West Conference’s single-game rushing record in his seventh game with the Bulldogs and finish the season only a few yards shy of the league rushing title.

“I expected that because I know what I can do,” said Murray, who was named the NWA Media All-Big 7 Newcomer of the Year. “I really should have done better than what I did, that’s what I think.”

But what more could Murray have done after seemingly coming out of nowhere to rush for 1,443 yards and 17 touchdowns on 194 carries, averaging 7.4 yards per carry and giving the Bulldogs (4-6) a dominant offensive threat to base their offense around?

“Just more touchdowns, more yards, just all in general,” Murray said. “I should have done better.”

Others would disagree. Murray’s immediate impact caught the attention of several big-time colleges, including Arkansas and Notre Dame.

Murray was ineligible to play for Springdale as a sophomore, but he quickly caught Patrick’s attention after joining the team last spring. He earned the nickname “Quick Six” because of his jersey number, and his speed was confirmed when he was recently clocked running the 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds.

“I knew he was really, really good. I didn’t know to (what) point that he would continue to get better and better,” Patrick said. “What I didn’t know was how he was going to play without the football. And as much as he did with the football in his hand, he did a lot of really really good things without the football because he’s not selfish.”

Van Buren coach Brooks Coatney had no doubt about Murray’s explosiveness following a 41-40 loss to Springdale on Oct. 12. After losing nine yards on his first four carries, the junior broke free for 135 yards on back-to-back plays in the second quarter and went into halftime with 174 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries.

Murray continued to race downfield, stiff-arm defenders and outrun them as he earned a place in the record books. He finished with 28 carries for 362 yards and four touchdowns, breaking the 7A/6A-West Conference’s single-game rushing record and establishing himself as one of the state’s top running backs.

“The thing about Deandre is he wants to learn. He wants to know the details,” Patrick said. “Like anything, there are things that don’t come quite as easy to some people, but he definitely wants to learn the game. He’s very coachable.”

Just don’t punt to him.