By Clay Horning
Norman High whipped Yukon 44-17 back on Oct. 6. Mossis Madu ran for 272 yards on just 15 carries, a school-record six of them for touchdowns. Only that’s not the story.
Three weeks later, it was a 35-10 win at Choctaw. Madu ran for 125 yards on 22 carries. But that’s not the story.
Two weeks later, in the first round of the playoffs, Mustang visited Harve Collins Field. Madu ran for 169 yards on 26 carries but the Tigers went down to a bunch of Broncos that would play for the state title. But that’s not the story.
The story came before. Over the summer. When everything changed for Madu. The time he took a good look at himself, realized what he could become and went about becoming it.
“We saw film on Rivals(.com) of all the top players. We watched film and everybody told Mossis he could do that,” NHS quarterback Press Taylor remembers. “We knew it and he knew it and he just started working out in the summer. He knew he needed to be a leader and work hard in the weight room. He did all that and it showed up on the field.”
Sometimes it showed up on a 5-yard carry. Sometimes it showed up on a cross-country gallop. Sometimes it even showed up on a 1-yard loss.
Understand this about Madu:
He had a great senior season. He ran for 1,513 yards and caught for another 242. He scored 27 touchdowns and led Class 6A in scoring. And if it was all about the numbers, those are fine numbers. But watching him run is so much more satisfying than reading about it or hearing the numbers. Because others ran for bigger numbers. But nobody ran as well.
That’s why Oklahoma offered the hometown kid a scholarship at midseason.
That’s why Madu made it official in front of coaches and teammates at 3 p.m. Wednesday at NHS, finally signing his national letter of intent to play football for the Sooners.
And that’s why, even on a day OU signed DeMarco Murray, the No. 1 running back in the nation according to ESPN.com and Gerald McCoy, the No. 1 defensive recruit in the nation according to USAToday, Sooner running backs coach Cale Gundy still said this about Madu:
“I think, when it’s all said and done, he’s going to be one of the best two or three players in this class.”
Of course, it’s not like the recruiting gurus were ever laughing at the Tiger. Scout.com ranks him the No. 14 running back in the nation, Rivals.com ranks him the No. 45 “athlete” in the nation and SuperPrep ranks him the No. 11 “skilled athlete” in the nation. Not that Madu cares about any of that stuff.
“When it really comes down to it, it’s not about where you were ranked in high school. It’s not about whether you were a three-star, four-star or five-star, it’s about what you’re going to do when you get to that level,” he said. “And I know I’m going to work my butt off to be the best player I can be.”
And there’s no telling what that might mean.
Over the past 20 years, the two biggest talents NHS has delivered to OU have been Tyrell Peters and J.T. Thatcher. The first played in the NFL, the second was an All-American and NHS football coach Butch Peters can envision a scenario in which Madu eclipses both with his impact at the collegiate level.
“I think, at this point, for potential, he’s ahead of those players … Where Mossis is ahead of the game is he has so much more potential,” Peters said. “He’s rough. Very rough. He’s just maturing.”
Peters points out Madu has yet to undergo a serious offseason conditioning program. He made great progress showing up at 7 each morning for Tiger Pride last summer, but he was playing basketball last winter and he was running track last spring.
Just imagine what Sooner strength coach Jerry Schmidt might do with Madu’s 6-1, 190-pound frame and 4.6 speed once he gets the young runner’s full attention.
And that’s what Peters is talking about when he mentions the maturing process. Between the ears, Madu has already made the strides.
“I played varsity when I was a sophomore and back then, I was like, ‘I’m a sophomore, I can make mistakes.’ And even junior year, I was, ‘I’m still an underclassmen, I can make mistakes,’” he said. “(Senior year), I knew I was the one being looked up to, so I had to go hard every time I was on the field, I had to work my butt off during the summer and I had to be a leader and just fully mature.”
Peters painted the difference more graphically.
“Last year he would go down at times he didn’t need to go down. This year, you couldn’t get him to go down,” he said. “He just changed his whole attitude, his work ethic. He did all the things he had to do to get to the next level.”
And that’s the story.
Looking into the future, Madu has a vision that first came to him while attending a Sooner game last season. Something about 80,000 fans going wild at Owen Field.
“I looked around and I was like, ‘Man, if I come here, I’m going to be standing dead center in the field and everybody’s going to be cheering me.’ You know, the team, but if I scored a touchdown. And I was just like, ‘That’s a scary thought.’ You feel the blood rushing through your veins. It’s crazy.”
Maybe, but the Sooners are counting on it.
Clay Horning366-3526cfhorning@normantranscript.com
