By Gary Lloyd
CLAY — It’s now his time.
As a sophomore, Terrelle West was the running back who burst for several huge runs and averaged 8.9 yards per carry. He was quiet and unassuming, a lanky 10th-grader who brought chairs from the sideline to the field house after home games while upperclassmen changed clothes inside.
As a junior, West was the running back who continued to burst for long runs and averaged 9.2 yards per carry, leading the best offense in Clay-Chalkville history with 1,181 rushing yards. His name still seemed to hide just a bit behind the likes of senior quarterback Hayden Moore and senior running back Sidney Battle.
But now West is a senior, and a senior leader at that.
“Terrelle has always been a great kid,” said Clay-Chalkville head coach Jerry Hood. “He’s been a phenomenal player and person for us. We would hold him up in the same regards we hold a (former Clay-Chalkville and UAB running back) Darrin Reaves up, a (former Clay-Chalkville quarterback) Hayden Moore up, a (former Clay-Chalkville quarterback) Jacob Thomas up. They’re good people and they’re representing Clay well. They’re tough, and football matters to them.”
West has all the statistics in his two years playing varsity football. He’s rushed 231 times for 2,084 yards and 23 touchdowns. He’s caught 32 passes for 466 yards and he has 391 kickoff return yards.
“He’s fast and he’s got vision,” said junior wide receiver T.J. Simmons. “He can see every cut that nobody else sees. I know all I need to do is block for a second and he’s gone.”
West doesn’t much talk about his stats, accolades or scholarship offers.
“I know if I have a bad game or something like that, my team will pick me up,” West said. “I don’t feel like the pressure is just on me. It’s a team thing.”
West committed to Middle Tennessee State last month. He didn’t take to Twitter to tweet the story written about him. He did, however, retweet the post about all the Clay-Chalkville players who have committed.
Hood said he wants players to represent Clay-Chalkville the right way all the time. West does that.
“What matters to us is that we teach the next group what it means to play at Clay-Chalkville, and that means you’ve got to act a certain way, you’ve got to work at a certain level,” Hood said.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.