By Ross Johnson

Sports Writer

Marquis Terrell heard some good news on Monday before practice.

Callaway High’s star running back has begun to draw attention from colleges, and head coach Pete Wiggins told him Georgia Tech would be in attendance to scout the junior Friday night.

It’s no surprise Terrell is getting notice from elite college football programs.

With 1,475 yards and 23 touchdowns in his first season as a full-time starter, Terrell is on pace to break the school rushing record.

More importantly, he’s a driving force behind Callaway’s second-round playoff berth and will be a key ingredient in the Cavaliers’ hopes of making a deep run in the Class AA playoffs.

“I just try to run hard and want to win really bad,” Terrell said. “I want a ring. I want a championship.”

Terrell’s rise is somewhat of a surprise, considering he wasn’t even a projected starter coming out of spring practice.

Senior D.J. Rutledge was slated to be the team’s first-string running back, but an injury forced him to sit the first two games.

That opened the door for Terrell, and he responded in impressive fashion.

“Coming in, I wasn’t expecting this,” Terrell said. “I just came in ready to play football.”

With Quan Bray’s move from running back to quarterback, Terrell was able to learn alongside Bray, who excelled at the position during the two previous years.

Bray’s knowledge of the position, coupled with Terrell’s lethal blend of speed and vision, led to Terrell’s rise of the Cavaliers’ most productive offensive player.

“(Bray has) been helping me the whole year,” Terrell said. “What to do, who to block, how to read the holes, everything.

“I just try to get better every week. Every play, every rep, I try to get better.”

Last week’s 47-7 win over Riverside Military in the first round of the playoffs didn’t start the way Terrell wanted it to.

The Cavaliers scored on their first offensive play with a 41-yard pass from Bray to Quantavius Leslie, but the unit stalled and fumbled twice in the first quarter.

Terrell, who fumbled on his first carry, managed to score on a 20-yard run in the second quarter to give Callaway a two-touchdown lead at the half, but the Cavaliers knew they could play much better.

“After halftime, we wanted to play the game like it just started,” Terrell said. “I just wasn’t having good game. We had two fumbles. I wasn’t focused. In the second half, I came in and tried to play more focused.”

It was a tale of two halves for the Cavaliers, and especially for Terrell.

After Callaway went ahead 28-7 on a scoring run from fullback Randy Bailey, Terrell notched touchdown runs of 84 and 66 yards.

He finished with 188 yards and three touchdowns.

“There was more grass on that side,” Terrell said of his 84-yard scoring run in which he switched sides of the field. “When I see the grass, I go where the grass is.”

Callaway offensive coordinator Matt Napier said the Cavaliers had to adjust when Riverside’s defense came out with a different defensive look than they anticipated.

“They were stacking their linebackers a little bit differently,” Napier said. “We had to make some adjustments.”

Once Terrell and the Cavaliers’ offense got rolling, it was impossible for Riverside to stop.

“He’s got tremendous vision,” Napier said. “Combine that with some speed, and he’s turned into something petty special. He’s got some petty darn good offensive linemen and wide receivers blocking for him too.”

Callaway is hoping for similar results this week when it hosts Westminster School in the second round of the playoffs.

With the way Terrell has been running, it will be tough for any team to keep him at bay.

“(Westminster is) well-coached and pretty big,” Terrell said. “We’re pretty big, too but no team is faster than we are. It’s nothing we can’t handle.”