Murray State University Athletics
Berry and Brady Lead Strong Group of Running Backs
8/13/2013 10:57:00 AM | Football
Murray State enters the 2013 season with plenty of experience in the backfield with senior Jaamal Berry and Duane Brady. This will be very important this season as the Racers are breaking in a new quarterback.
The duo of Berry and Brady combined to rush for 1,264 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2012. Berry led the way with 675 yards, and averaged 7.1 yards per carry. Brady rushed for 589 yards and averaged 5.0 yard per carry.
The tandem also showed their versatility out of the backfield by catching a combined 64 passes. Â
Berry enters his senior season as a different player than this time a season ago. He has added some muscle in the offseason and is as good a shape as he was at the end of last season. Â
Brady has been a mainstay in the Racers backfield since he set foot on campus. As part of Hatcher's first recruiting class, Brady has rushed 257 times for 1,160 yards and 16 touchdowns over his first three seasons.
Red-shirt freshman Marcus Holliday will push for time behind the two seniors. He has added some weight and improved his strength for this season. Holliday showed flashes of what he can do in the first scrimmage on Saturday.
Freshmen Demetric Johnson and Zach Katzman have both impressed the coaches in camp. Head Coach Chris Hatcher said that like most freshman, they need to continue to work on their ball handling.
Johnson joins the Racers after rushing for 1,974 yards and 32 touchdowns as a senior at South Pittsburg High School. He set a Chattanooga area record by averaging 14.6 yards per carry.
Katzman closed out his senior season at Graves County by rushing for 2,247 yards and 34 touchdowns.
The Racers will return to the practice field tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. They will continue to work out at 8 a.m. the rest of the week before holding their second scrimmage Saturday morning at 9 a.m. All practices are open to the public.
