Name: Damien Harris
Position: Running Back
High School: Madison Southern
Career prior to senior season: Damien Harris played in only seven varsity games as a freshman. Though his 11.9 yards per carry average and his 106 yards per game average were pretty telling of things to come for the then freshman.
After his head coach, Jon Clark, reached out to a member of the Michigan staff, the rising sophomore attended a prospect camp in Ann Arbor and the Wolverines saw that he was something special. Before he had even stepped on the field for his second year of varsity play he obtained an offer from his dream school.
As a sophomore on the gridiron, he blossomed into one of the Commonwealth's best backs. However, the legend was born on Sept. 12, 2012 when Madison Southern faced Powell Co.
Harris' performance that night left his name in the KHSAA record books with seven touchdowns (8th - rushing touchdowns in a single game) which equates to 42 points (16th - points in a single game).
Over the course of ten games he accumulated 1,911 yards and 37 touchdowns while averaging 12.02 yards per carry. His touchdown and yards per carry marks put his name twice more into the record book -- 17th - touchdowns in a season, 13th - yards per carry.
By the start of his junior season, the word was completely out -- Damien Harris is among the upper echelon of tailbacks in the country. It looked as if Harris would be one of the most highly recruited prospects in the country, too. But he decided to commit to Michigan near the end of July 2013.
The newly-committed Wolverine proved himself further more rushing for 2,621 yards and 42 touchdowns as a junior -- good for 5th in the KHSAA record books under touchdowns in a single season. It earned him Kentucky's Gatorade Player of the Year honors, as well.
Near the end of August, he was named as one of the First Five-Stars and ranked as the No. 1 running back in the nation, by Rivals.com.
During the offseason, Harris' recruitment made a change of course. After a rocky season for Michigan and the firing of offensive coordinator Al Borges, who recruited him for the Wolverines, Harris decided to de-commit.
And since then, the question of "Where will Damien Harris attend college?" has been on the minds of many.
2014 outlook: Let me start by saying, I completely expect Madison Southern to win the 5A state championship on the legs of Damien Harris.
As long as there isn't another mud bowl, like last year's game at Pulaski Co., and with the mass exodus in Bowling Green the stars have aligned for the Eagles to take it all.
Harris is in the neighborhood of breaking two career KHSAA records going into the 2014 season. He needs 3,359 yards to break J.J. Jude's all-time record of 8,633. And 30 touchdowns to top Domonique Hayden's 120 career rushing touchdowns, a mark that seems he will easily surpass.
Expect unprecedented happenings within the Madison Southern this season.
Pleading Harris' case: Damien Harris is a talent unlike any the Commonwealth of Kentucky has seen.
I know people will make cases for guys like Tim Couch, Shaun Alexander and maybe even Michael Bush. Let's think about it, though.
When I say seen, I mean actually seen. Since the aforementioned athletes graduated technology has come a long way. You can get on to Damien Harris' HUDL account and anyone from Paducah to Ashland can watch him work.
He's covered heavily by many and in the social media era there's yet another way to stay connected on all things Damien Harris.
Harris and his success from this point on will very good for prep football in the Bluegrass. He was named the Gatorade Player of the Year from Kentucky in 2013 and stands a chance to win the national award in 2014.
He's the most electrifying athlete in the state. He's the premier back in the country and the state, for that matter.
No matter what he does in the future he should always be known as Mr. Football Kentucky 2014. All Kentuckians should take pride in knowing the extremely talented Harris is one of us.