Damion Fletcher
From NCAA College Football Information & Resource
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Damion Fletcher (Born July 1, 1987, in Biloxi, Mississippi) plays running back for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in the NCAA college football tournament. In two seasons as a Golden Eagle, Fletcher has provided stability and consistency in the Southern Miss offense, topping the 1,000-rushing yard mark both as a freshman and as a sophomore. He is also one of the major reasons why his team has made it to the postseason for two straight years, appearing in the GMAC Bowl and in the Papajohns.com Bowl in January and December of 2007, respectively. Fletcher turned out a remarkable year as a sophomore capped by a 155-rushing yard performance against Cincinnati, a team that ranked 15th in the nation in rushing defense and allows only 105.7 yards per game on the ground.
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[edit] Personal Life
Damion is the son of Chantel Coffee. He says that he admires former Memphis standout DeAngelo Williams, who like him was a superstar running back in the Conference USA. He is roommates with former high school teammate Anthony Gray. His family's home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005, and for awhile, they sought refuge with an aunt in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. His family then moved to Fresno, Calif. while he stayed in Florida to try and figure out where he'd play his final year in high school. After Gray invited him to move upstate to Philadelphia, Miss., he was able to suit up for a game with Fort Walton Beach High before his high school coaches called him up to return and continue playing for Biloxi High.
[edit] High School
Aside from playing football, Fletcher also ran hurdles and did the jumping events at Biloxi High, earning state runner-up honors in the high jump. He played gridiron for coach David Russell and was a Region 4-5A Offensive Player of the Year and was adjudged as the team's most valuable player. As a junior, he rushed for 1,750 yards and 26 touchdowns to earn his first of two consecutive All-Coast honors from Sun Herald. Fletcher, a second team All-State selection by The Clarion-Ledger, then capped his high school career by rushing for 952 yards and 13 touchdowns. He received all-district selection for two years, an All-Southeast Region accolades from PrepStar, and was also named as the team's captain. The lack of exposure in Biloxi hurt his stock in recruitment with Rivals.com giving him only a two-star rating.
[edit] College
Despite remarkable performances in prep school, only two teams offered Fletcher a scholarship, Southern Miss and Arkansas State. He decided to sign with the former.
[edit] 2006
Coach Bower believed that Fletcher was the Golden Eagles' best back out of training camp. However, because he was only a true freshman, the coaching staff listed him as a reserve going into the season opener. He came off the bench and carried the football 18 times for 89 yards and caught 2 passes for a season high 38 yards in his collegiate debut @ The Swamp in Florida. He made his first career start the following week and racked up his first 100-yard game (116 yards, 17 carries) and scored on two TD runs against Southeastern Louisiana. He turned out a career game in week three, registering season highs of 28 carries, 177 rushing yards (3rd-best output in freshman charts), and 3 TDs in a win over N.C. State to earn for himself the C-USA Offensive Player of the Week award. He racked up 109 and 110 yards at Central Florida and Tulsa, respectively, to top the hundred yard mark in four straight games. He produced three more 100-yard games with 136 @ Tulane (10th best performance by a freshman), 163 in a win over UAB (5th best), and 151 against Marshall (8th best). He made his bowl game debut against Ohio in the GMAC Bowl @ Mobile, Alabama, where he rushed 20 times for 52 yards and 2 TDs to claim the game's Most Valuable Player honors.
He finished the year with 276 carries for 1,388 yards (both Southern Miss and Conference USA freshman rushing record and the 13th-highest total by a freshman in NCAA history) and 11 TDs in 13 games including 11 starts and a total of 625 snaps (624 offense, 1 special teams). Along with Tory Harrison, the duo became the first Southern Miss true freshman pair to rush for over 100 yards in the same season. The first team all-league selection also registered seven 100-yard rushing performances during his rookie season.
[edit] 2007
Expectations were high for Fletcher going into his sophomore year as many dubbed him as the new face of Conference USA in lieu of outgoing Houston quarterback Kevin Kolb. He also garnered several preseason honors from various publications including a C-USA Offensive Player of the Preseason from CFN and first team All-league accolades from CBSSportsline.com, CFN, Lindy's, TSN, Phil Steele, among others.
He made his season debut against Tennessee-Martin, recording 19 carries for 156 yards and 1 TD in the Golden Eagles' first win of 2007. He racked up triple digit rushing yardage @ East Carolina (111 yards, 27 carries, 1 TD), against Rice (23 carries for 142 yards and 2 TDs), versus Southern Methodist (19 carries for 108 yards and 1 TD), @ Marshall (30 carries for 152 yards and 3 TDs), against Central Florida (19 carries, 134 yards), notched career highs @ Texas-El Paso (34 attempts, 211 yards, 3 TDs), against Arkansas State (27 carries, 133 yards and 1 TD), before closing out another good season with a 29-carry, 155-yard performance against Cincinnati in the Papajohns.com Bowl.
He ended 2007-08 with a school single-season record of 1,586 yards rushing (surpassing the 1982 record established by Sam Dejarnette at 1,545 yards). His season total also placed him fourth in the school's all-time rushing list and puts him within striking distance of Ben Garry's record of 3,595 yards set from 1974-77. He also received the Conerly Trophy (Mississippi's top college football player) and garnered All-Conference USA Second Team honors from the league coaches.
[edit] Highlights
| Damion Fletcher manages to stay on his feet after gaining 16 yards and being flipped in mid-air. |
[edit] Achievements
[edit] 2007
- All-C-USA Second Team (Coaches and Media)
- Athlon Sports Preseason All-C-USA First Team
- C-USA Coaches Preseason All-C-USA First Team
- C-USA Offensive Player of the Week (vs. NC State)
- CBSSportline.com Preseason All-C-USA First Team
- CollegeFootballNews.com's #7 Player in the C-USA
- CollegeFootballNews.com's #5 RB in the C-USA
- CollegeFootballNews.com's #25 RB in the C-USA (Preseason)
- CollegeFootballNews.com's #2 Player in the C-USA (Preseason)
- CollegeFootballNews.com Preseason All-America Honorable Mention
- CollegeFootballNews.com Preseason All-C-USA First Team
- CollegeFootballNews.com Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year
- CollegeFootballNews.com Sophomore All-America Second Team
- Conerly Trophy
- GMAC Bowl Most Valuable Player
- Lindy's Preseason All-C-USA First Team
- Lindy's Top 10 NFL Talent in Conference USA
- Lindy's Toughest running back to bring down
- Maxwell Football Club's Maxwell Award Preseason "Watch List"
- Phil Steele's All-C-USA Second Team
- Phil Steele's Preseason #46 RB in the nation
- Phil Steele's Preseason All-C-USA First Team
- The Sporting News Preseason All-C-USA First Team
[edit] 2006
- All-C-USA First Team (Coaches and Media)
- CollegeFootballNews.com's #10 Player in the C-USA
- CollegeFootballNews.com's #2 RB in the C-USA
- CollegeFootballNews.com All-C-USA First Team
- CollegeFootballNews.com Freshman All-America
- Conerly Trophy Finalist
- Football Writers Association of America/Scripps
- Rivals.com Freshman All-American
- Scout.com Freshman All-American
- Southern Miss Offensive Player of the Week (3x - Florida, UCF, Tulane)
- The Sporting News Freshman All-American
[edit] References
- After surviving Katrina, Fletcher ready to wreck havoc on C-USA
- Damion Fletcher Southern Miss Profile
- Damion Fletcher Stats @ ESPN.com
- Damion Fletcher Wikipedia
- Kids watch Fletcher, think of Reggie Bush
