| Advertisement |
|
|
Hyperbole is often used in sports, especially at the high school level. When it comes to Royce Freeman, however, it’s simply unnecessary.
The junior Imperial High football fullback has amassed 2,367 rushing yards this season alone, making him the top running back in the CIF-San Diego Section for the second year in a row.
Those yards have come in only 10 games on just 178 carries, giving Freeman an incredible 13.3 yards per carry, with 34 rushing touchdowns and 220 total points to boot.
“I see the best high school football player offensively I’ve ever seen, bar none,” Imperial High head coach Kerry Legarra said. “He’s a bull, he’s got great speed, he’s fluid, and he has great hands.
“He’s a mix of Jim Brown, Gale Sayers, Larry Czonka, you name it,” he said. “He’s very, very gifted.”
A junior at 6-foot-1 and 218 pounds, Freeman has already broken all of the school’s rushing and scoring records and is threatening to break more — this time at the CIF-San Diego Section level.
“People bring it up to me all the time, but I honestly don’t even know where I’m at with all of that,” Freeman said. “I just know if I keep running hard, the records will just flow in.”
Freeman may not keep an eye on those records, but just about everybody else around him does.
The local football phenom broke onto the varsity scene late in the 2010 season, quickly raising eyebrows when he ran over a senior opposing defensive back en route to his first touchdown at that level.
Last season was an incredible one for Freeman, as he averaged 12.81 yards per carry for 2,075 yards, 35 rushing touchdowns, and 240 total points.
This season’s even-greater rushing total of 2,367 — which does not yet include the upcoming slugfest in Brawley — is the 13th-best single-season performance in the history of CIF-SDS.
That’s better than the greatest running back to ever play in the Imperial Valley, that being Zay Shepherd of Brawley Union High.
It’s also better than seasons put together by former NFL running backs Rashaan Salaam and Ricky Williams, as well as current NFL players Reggie Bush and Arian Foster.
His career average yards per carry — second all-time so far in CIF-SDS at 12.75 — are greater than all those ‘backs.
“It’s an honor to even be considered in the same category as these running backs,” Freeman said. “I think it’s due to the offensive line and their ability to get me through the defense on less carries.
“I think it motivates them to know that when they do a good job, I’m going to try my best to get a lot of yards,” he said while praising his line, comprised of seniors Azael Castro and Tyler Swarthout, and juniors Evan Pumphrey, Mickey Lopez, and James Phillips.
Career-wise, Freeman has already scored more points than Bush and has run for just 18 less total yards than Williams.
“I think it’s my focus and drive, and just the blessing of the Lord inspiring me to play football as well as I can,” he said.
If Freeman’s senior season at Imperial resembles this junior year of his, he will almost certainly shatter the career CIF-SDS rushing yards record by more than a thousand yards.
Likewise if recent trends hold true, he would also end up with more total points than any other running back in CIF-SDS history.
“I think his future is wherever he wants it to be, academically and athletically,” Legarra said.
Freeman has already had one scholarship offer from the University of Washington, but it certainly won’t be his last.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Freeman said. “It was a phone call and it felt good because hopefully through that I can get more exposure and more notice for everybody on the team.
“I believe there are multiple people on our team that can play at the next level,” he said. “I feel that I’m playing for a bigger cause.
“My teammates, they’re my family,” Freeman said. “So I want to do everything I can for them.”
Several other Tigers, including Pumphrey, have caught college scouts’ eye because of the focus Freeman’s record-setting performances and multiple “wow” moments in games have brought.
“When we had Robert (Thomas), there were scouts here all the time,” Legarra said. “That’s the way it is right now.
“It gives exposure to the team and to Imperial,” he said.
But ask anybody who knows him and they’ll tell you what the best aspect of his life is — his humility.
“The biggest asset he has, the greatest thing he has going for him, is he knows it’s not all about him, it’s about his team,” Legarra said. “He’s the epitome of a team player.”
That stems from his excellent upbringing, family support, faith in God, and his choice of athletes he looks up to.
“Adrian Peterson, the way he runs the ball, is what I want to simulate,” Freeman said of the former Oklahoma Sooner and current Minnesota Viking.
“The way he handles himself off the field is very humble and inspiring,” he said.
When looking back on his career thus far, Freeman is visibly happy that his friends on the team are getting looks from colleges around the nation, and that his school is also being visited by so many.
“This is a tremendous high school, a great academic school,” the humble fullback said. “It’s the best in the Valley, because the teachers and staff really care.
“It’s a great community, too,” he said. “It’s a great thing to know that Imperial really supports their football team, and I hope they come and support us on Friday.”
Friday, of course, is the great grudge match of the year, an opportunity for either the Wildcats to reinforce their dominance this season or for the Tigers to get revenge and move on in the CIF-SDS Division IV playoffs.
“This is going to be the biggest game most of us have every played in,” Freeman said. “Brawley’s a great opponent — they are a good team to face.
“We just have to play the way we know we can,” he said. “You always have to keep your future in mind because it’s very important, but for right now I just want to keep my focus on the team.
“Each year I want to help the seniors go out knowing that we gave it our all,” Freeman said.
IMPERIAL VALLEY LEAGUE RECORDS
Most Yards Rushing (Career)
1st: 4,667 — Royce Freeman, Imperial (2010-Present)
2nd: 4,255 — Zay Shepherd, Brawley (2002-04)
Most Yards Rushing (Season)
1st: 2,367 — Royce Freeman, Imperial (2012; season not yet completed)
2nd: 2,257 — Zay Shepherd, Brawley (2004)
Most Yards Rushing (Game)
1st: 353 — Royce Freeman, Imperial vs. Francis Parker (9/28/12)
Rushing Average (Career — Minimum 140 Carries)
1st: 12.75 — Royce Freeman, Imperial (2010-Present) — 366 carries; 4,667 yards
2nd: 9.63 — Zay Shepherd, Brawley (2002-04) — 442 carries; 4,255 yards
Rushing Average (Season — Minimum 100 Carries)
1st: 13.30 — Royce Freeman, Imperial (2011) — 178 carries; 2,367 yards
Most Points Scored (Career)
1st — 498 — Zay Shepherd, Brawley (2002-04)
2nd — 466 — Royce Freeman, Imperial (2010-Present)*
Most Points Scored (Season)
1st: 276 — Zay Shepherd, Brawley (2004)
2nd: 240 — Royce Freeman, Imperial (2011)
Most Points Scored (Game)
1st: 42 — Zay Shepherd, Brawley vs. Palo Verde (10/31/03)
T-2nd: 38 — Joe Mange, Holtville vs. Calipatria (1999)
T-2nd: 38 — Joey Navarro, Imperial vs. Julian (1998)
T-3rd: 36 — Royce Freeman, Imperial vs. Yucca Valley (10/07/11)
T-3rd: 36 — Royce Freeman, Imperial vs. Del Norte (11/18/11)
T-3rd: 36 — Royce Freeman, Imperial vs. Central (10/26/12)
Most Touchdown Runs (Career)
1st: 88 — Zay Shepherd, Brawley (2002-2004)
2nd: 70 — Royce Freeman, Imperial (2010-Present)*
Most Touchdown Runs (Season)
1st: 45 — Zay Shepherd, Brawley (2004)
2nd: 38 — Zay Shepherd, Brawley (2003)
3rd: 35 — Royce Freeman, Imperial (2011)
4th: 34 — Royce Freeman, Imperial (2012; season not yet completed)
*Expected to be IVL statistical leader by end of high school career
C.I.F. SAN DIEGO SECTION RECORDS
Most Points Scored (Career)
1st: 697 — Dillon Baxter, Mission Bay (2006-09) [quarterback]
4th: 498 — Zay Shepherd, Brawley (2002-04)
6th: 466 — Royce Freeman, Imperial (2010-Present)*
7th: 450 — Reggie Bush, Helix (2000-2002)
Most Points Scored (Season)
1st: 336 — Tyler Gaffney, Cathedral Catholic (2008)
4th: 276 — Zay Shepherd, Brawley (2004)
7th: 240 — Royce Freeman, Imperial (2011)
11th: 220 — Royce Freeman, Imperial (2012; season not yet completed)
Most Yards Rushing (Career)
1st: 5,650 — Demetrius Sumler, Cathedral Catholic (2002-05)
8th: 4,982 — Rashaan Salaam, LJCD (1989-91)
11th: 4.925 — Reggie Bush, Helix (2000-2002)
13th: 4,685 — Ricky Williams, Patrick Henry (1992-94)
14th: 4,667 — Royce Freeman, Imperial (2010-Present)*
Most Yards Rushing (Season)
1st: 2,974 — Dillon Baxter, Mission Bay (2009)
13th: 2,367 — Royce Freeman, Imperial (2012; season not yet completed)
Most Yards Rushing (Game)
1st: 455 — Erich Fredburg, Julian vs. M. Baptist (10/27/89) — (8-Man)
3rd: 412 — Rashaan Salaam, LJCD vs. Francis Parker (10/91) — (8-Man)
7th: 371 — Rashaan Salaam, LJCD vs. Midway Baptist (11/10/89) — (8-Man)
T-12th: 353 — Royce Freeman, Imperial vs. Francis Parker (9/28/12)
Rushing Average (Career — Minimum 140 Carries)
1st: 13.3 — Derrell Hutsona, Helix (2001-02) — 154 carries; 2,052 yards
2nd: 12.75 — Royce Freeman, Imperial (2010-Present) — 366 carries; 4,667 yards
4th: 12.10 — Reggie Bush, Helix (2000-2002) — 407 carries; 4,925 yards
Rushing Average (Season — Minimum 100 Carries)
1st: 17.35 — Rashaan Salaam, LJCD (1990) — 124 carries; 2,152 yards — (8-Man)
4th: 13.30 — Royce Freeman, Imperial (2011) — 178 carries; 2,367 yards
Most Touchdown Runs (Career)
1st: 105 — Rashaan Salaam, LJCD (1989-91) — (8-Man)
2nd: 88 — Zay Shepherd, Brawley (2002-2004)
5th: 70 — Royce Freeman, Imperial (2010-Present)*
Most Touchdown Runs (Season)
1st: 52 — Evan Fisher, Julian (2001) — (8-Man)
2nd: 51 — Rashaan Salaam, LJCD (1990) — (8-Man)
5th: 45 — Zay Shepherd, Brawley (2004)
7th: 38 — Zay Shepherd, Brawley (2003)
T-10th: 35 — Royce Freeman, Imperial (2011)
T-11th: 34 — Reggie Bush, Helix (2001)
T-11th: 34 — Royce Freeman, Imperial (2012; season not yet completed)
To comment on this story click here to be directed to Facebook.