It’s rare to see someone the size of Lucas Wright at the running back position in high school.
The 6-foot-2, 210-pound senior running back packs a punch in the Desert Ridge offense that is built on physical play.
“He’s so powerful and fast,” Desert Ridge Jeremy Hathcock said. “When people hit him, they don’t like hitting him by the third quarter.”
In two seasons, Wright has rushed for over 1,200 yards and 22 total touchdowns. As a junior, he averaged 7.3 yards per carry. He certainly uses his frame to run over defenses, and is continuing to work with the Jaguars and his personal coach, former ASU running back Ryan Torain, on his speed to take his game to the next level.
“(I’m) really just playing anything and helping the team in any way I can,” Wright said. “If that’s running the ball or catching the ball, blocking. Anything I can do.”
The Jaguars are coming off a 9-2 season and a two-seed in the 6A state tournament with much of that roster returning. Wright believes going through that experience together can set themselves up nicely for the 2018 season.
“It’s very helpful,” Wright said. “One of the things is just we’re able to work well together and we have a lot of chemistry.”
And head coach Jeremy Hathcock is planning to use the hard-hitting skills of his running back on defense as well.
“He’s going to play outside linebacker for us, especially in passing situations” Hathcock said. “I feel like that will be his stride in college, but at the same time he could play running back too. One of the things that you get from him is a selfless person. He knows our needs and he’s a team-first guy. In this day and age, that’s a rare quality, and any coach that lands on him in college is going to be excited to have him.”
Wright and the Desert Ridge Jaguars open their season on Friday against Red Mountain.
