Lewisburg running back to continue HBCU trend
OLIVE BRANCH, Miss. (BVM) — Football is undoubtedly the most popular sport in America. With that popularity, you have a wide variety of high school athletes growing up wanting to be like the professionals they see on their TV every Sunday. Blake Speed is one of those athletes.
“Football is No. 1 in my heart,” Speed said. “It’s a stress reliever and it keeps, not just me, but other athletes out of trouble. I love it [and] I just enjoy it while I can.”
But for Speed, this past season proved to be a challenge for him to keep that love for the football he had in his heart for so long.
“It was very tough,” Speed said. “It wasn’t the same as last year. I was quarantined for two games [due to contract tracing]. Not paying all my games [during my senior season], the protocols, [and] keeping away from the game, it was very stressful.”
Although it was an irregular and difficult season, Speed didn’t let that affect his play on the football field.
According to MaxPreps, he was able to play in nine games, and rush for 579 total yards, averaging 7.3 yards a carry while at Lewisburg High School. He also scored eight touchdowns during his last season too. When his season had ended, Speed had scored a total of 18 times, rushed for 1696 yards, and averaged 5.1 yards during his varsity career.
“He’s such a good kid, a well-rounded kid,” Lewisburg football head coach Matt Gehrke said. “He’s one of those kids that you can’t say enough good things about. … He’s a running back that can catch and do a lot of things. He reminds me of Marshall Faulk. Kind of that do-all back. He can run in between the tackles, outside the tackles, catch passes.”
When Speed steps onto the field each time, he remembers what his father always told him when he was younger.
“My pops always told me, ‘Always watch the greats,’” Speed said. “Walter Payton, Emmitt Smith, Barry Sanders. I always try to implant my running [style] just like them.”
Doing this, Speed kept his play on the gridiron consistent. It led to Speed receiving college offers from Drake, Lyon, and Clarke. But there was one offer that Speed couldn’t pass up. That was playing at HBCU Miles College.
The Miles College football team has won back-to-back Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles (SIAC). Now, Speed, who is also a track and basketball player, will bring his hard work and determination to Fairfield, Ala. and hopefully can help the Golden Bears capture another conference title.
“You’re not going to outwork that kid,” Gehrke said. “Kids like Blake need an opportunity to show what they can do. The sky’s the limit for Blake.”
C O M M I T T E D . 🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/tzwJ0qEBWp
— Blake Speed (@speedkills_25) February 3, 2021
Speed will be traveling to Miles College this fall and he may be set on what he’ll be studying during his time as Golden Bear.
“I wanted [study] physical therapy,” Speed said. “But I [do like business] so I might [study] marketing.”
Speed is sure to hit the ground running once he rashes Fairfield this fall, but even when he suits up and steps onto a collegiate football field, he’ll still remember his time as a Patriot and what football at Lewisburg High school always meant to him.
“It’s meant a lot [to play at Lewisburg],” Speed said. “I’ve played with a lot of people that have gone on to do great things. Lewisburg has [helped me grow] into the person that I am today.”
