Brentwood's Owens is a Strong Rusher

A lot of Brentwood folks have Eagles running back Rekardo Owens’ back.

Owens is a junior on the football team, and played for the before high school. He had a good freshman year on junior varsity, was injured most of his sophomore year, and is now sharing running duties with seniors Danny Lynch and .

This season has been a breakout year for Owens. In the past two games, Owens has tallied 198 yards and four offensive touchdowns (and one defensive score too).

Head coach Keith Herring said Owens has a natural sense as a running back.

“I’ve always felt that those guys, if you coach them too much, then you’ve probably got the wrong guy back there,” he said. “He can kind of feel where the hole is at.”

Owens’ father, Damon Hill, said he’s quiet but extremely competitive.

“He mostly likes to lead by example,” Hill said. “He’ll get vocal when he needs to, but for the most part he leads just by working hard and playing hard.”

Grades are important to him too, so Owens often hits study hall after school and is late to practice.

“He’s becoming more responsible as far as looking out for his future, and wanting to get to college. Just taking academics a little more seriously,” Hill said.

Hill said his son is very smart on the field too.

“Personally I believe the coaches need to take the reigns off him and let him get the ball a little more,” he said.

But it’s not just because Hill is his dad, he said. “There’s a different air, when Rekardo is running with the ball. And his teammates kind of feed off that.”

Herring would agree he’s fast. “He’s got the speed to run outside, and he looks pretty comfortable running the ball inside, which we ask our guys to do a lot," he said.

Inside or outside, “I like to run the ball and score touchdowns,” Owens said. “It’s my favorite part of the game.”

Sophomore lineman Chris Williams helps create the holes for Owens to run through.

“My job is to guard him whenever we pull it, and I pretty much protect him from anybody trying to tackle him,” he said. “That’s really it. I just go my hardest each play.”

“I love the way (Williams) blocks,” Owens said. “When he gets a block, I bounce off the outside or the inside, and he leads me to the touchdown.”

There’s something about Owens that surpasses his athletic abilities, though, Hill said.

“As good of an athlete that he is, he’s a better person,” he said. “Rekardo is a very nice young man.”

He’s also turning 17 years old on Thursday. So wish him happy birthday, and good luck on Friday for the Eagles’ road game against Cuba.