By Chris Hughes
SouthernPigskin.com

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Travis Riley is probably the best running back that nobody was talking about entering the 2010 season.

That was until North Carolina offered him a scholarship over the summer. Riley rushed for 1,923 yards and 34 touchdowns in 2009 but nobody seemed to take notice.

When you’re a standout running back at A.L. Brown High School in Kannapolis, you really have to stand out for people to take notice. Brown High could be labeled as Running Back High because of the vast number of BCS quality backs that have come through their system since the 1960’s.

First there was Haskell Stanback who stared at the University of Tennessee and went on to a successful career playing for the Atlanta Falcons in the 1970’s. Then came the duo of Ethan Horton and Terry Baxter who played from 1978 through 80. Horton went on to become a star at UNC and was a first-round draft pick by the Kansas City Chiefs while Baxter played at LSU.

And if those guys weren’t enough, add Tracy Johnson who stared at Clemson in the late 1980’s and played fullback for the Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks, and more recently Nick Maddox who is considered one of the best running backs in North Carolina high school history and played for the 1999 Florida State National Championship team and played in the NFL for Cleveland and Carolina.

So as good as Riley has been, he’s had to work extra hard just to be considered among the best in school history, and that task became even harder when he tore two ligaments and fractured his tibia in the opening game of the season.

Many observers thought that Riley’s days in a high school uniform were over but he proved everyone wrong when he suited up two weeks ago against Northwest Cabarrus and rushed for 57 yards on 12 carries and then blasted arch-rival Concord this week in North Carolina’s oldest rivalry game. Riley rushed for 152 yards and two touchdowns including a 38-run that sealed the victory.

Riley is now primed to lead the top-ranked Wonders into the North Carolina state playoffs and hopefully secure their first state championship victory since 1997.

Now that he’s healthy, he’s showing the mixture of speed and power that the college scouts talked about. He has great footwork and balance and was clocked at 4.54 in the 40-yard dash but he plays faster than on the field and has added some extra bulk to his 6-foot-1, 210 pound frame. He’s now bench pressing more than 340 pounds and has showed no sign of losing his track speed after the injury.

Riley competed in the 100, the 4×200 and the 200 on the track team and hopes to use that speed to help UNC next season.