The 20 most underrated high school running backs in the East

These runners put up big stats last season but thus far don’t have a bunch of stars next to their names in the recruiting world

High school football has been up and running throughout most of the East for several weeks, with Connecticut and Massachusetts being the last two U.S. states to start their seasons this week.

SBLive Sports has spent the week leading up to Friday's games featuring high school football players from the Eastern United States who might not be big names in the recruiting world — but could be soon if they keep showing out on the football field.

As the hype around top prospects grows, high school football players who don't get flooded with D1 offers keep grinding away.

We started by featuring some standout quarterbacks and wide receivers, and now we'll shine the spotlight on 20 running backs from the East who are poised to boost their recruiting stock this season.

Cuttler Adams, sr., Robbinsville (North Carolina) 

Adams ran for 2,202 yards and 27 touchdowns and helped lead Robbinsville to the third round of the NCHSAA 1A state playoffs.

Josiah Allen, jr., Wheeler (Georgia)

Allen earned all-region honors as a sophomore after leading Cobb County in rushing yards with 1,751. He scored 16 touchdowns on the ground and added another 157 receiving yards.

Brycen Armold, sr., Manheim Central (Pennsylvania)

Armold is on the smaller side at 5-foot-7 and 185 pounds, but the senior back runs with plenty of power and speed. He was a Class 4A all-state selection as a junior after rushing for 2,226 yards — 20 short of the single-season school record — and 34 touchdowns.

Zy’kie Askew, sr., Middletown (Connecticut)

Askew had five 150-yard rushing games in his 10 games as a junior, piling up 1,454 yards total with 13 touchdowns on the ground. He added another receiving touchdown and kickoff return for a TD.

Kalvin Banks, sr., Eastside (South Carolina)

The 5-foot-9, 170-pounder ran for 1,595 yards and 20 touchdowns as a junior, with 1,919 all-purpose yards. Banks has 223 rushing yards with three touchdowns through two games this season.

Trevor Barry, sr., Iroquois (New York)

A two-sport star (wrestling) and a two-way player (linebacker), Barry put up some ridiculous numbers as a running back last season. He set a Western New York record with 43 touchdowns, rushing for 2,317 yards on 256 carries.

Amareon Blue, jr., Durham Jordan (North Carolina)

Blue flourished as a sophomore, amassing 2,442 yards and 30 touchdowns while averaging 187.8 rushing yards per game.

Damien Brockington, sr., Tiffin Columbian (Ohio)

Brockington was a first-team all-state honoree in Division III last season when he rushed for 1,742 yards with 28 touchdowns, helping the Tornadoes finish 9-3. He already has a seven-touchdown game this season (six rushing TDs, one kickoff return).

BJ Brown, sr., Lee County (North Carolina)

Brown is already approaching 500 yards this season — including a 232-yard game — after piling up 2,139 as a junior and 1,338 as a sophomore. He averaged 194.5 yards per game on the ground last season, scoring 21 touchdowns.

Quavion Cooper, jr., Manchester (Georgia)

Nicknamed “Flash,” Cooper was a big-play machine as a sophomore, amassing 1,583 all-purpose yards. He averaged 10.6 yards per carry and 137 yards per game on the ground, scoring 22 rushing touchdowns. Cooper also averaged 30 yards per catch with three touchdowns.

Jazonte Levan, sr., Seaford (Delaware)

If Levan has the kind of year in 2023 on the football field that he did on the track in the spring, then look out. The record-breaking sprinter hit the national track and field circuit over the summer and is coming off a junior year in football where he rushed for 1,180 yards and 14 touchdowns while averaging 12.6 yards per carry.

Rashawn Marshall, sr., Weequahic (New Jersey)

Marshall ran for 1,805 yards and 23 touchdowns on 169 carries as a junior, including a 300-yard game and two 200-yard games. He started his senior year right where he left off, rushing for 202 yards on 17 carries with two touchdowns in Weequahic’s season opener.

Keveun Mason, jr., Fort Meade (Florida)

Coming off an 1,800-yard rushing season as a sophomore with Lake Placid, Mason transferred to Fort Meade in the offseason and got off to a hot start. In his first game as a junior he ran for over 200 yards with two touchdowns.

Dennis Palmer Jr., sr., Jensen Beach (Florida)

Palmer is set to soar high for the Falcons in his final year of high school football after rushing for 1,640 yards as a junior. He had more than 2,000 total yards and 30 touchdowns.

Nasir Phillips, sr. Westerville South (Ohio)

Phillips made first-team all-state last year in Division II as Westerville South went 11-2. A 5-10, 190-pounder, Phillips rushed 261 times for 1,732 yards and 18 touchdowns and added a receiving touchdown.

Soren Rief, sr., Killingly (Connecticut)

Rief has had back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons, including 1,932 yards and 28 touchdowns last year. Four starters return on the Killingly offensive line, so Rief looks poised to eclipse 2,000 yards as a senior.

Aiden Sergent, sr., Oceanside (Maine)

Sergent is an every-down running back who ran for 1,641 yards with 26 touchdowns as a junior, earning honors as Class C North Player of the Year. He plays for a prolific offense that averaged over 37 points per game last season and returned most of its starters.

Ryan Taleb, sr., Houston County (Georgia)

The Houston County passing attack, led by quarterback Antwann Hill Jr., gets most of the attention, but don’t sleep on running back Ryan Taleb. He’s coming off a 1,700-yard season with 19 touchdowns on the ground.

Raphael Tucker, sr., Dinwiddie (Virginia)

Despite sharing the rushing load with three-star dual-threat junior quarterback Harry Dalton in 2022, Tucker finished with 1,463 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns last season. The duo is off to a good start this season in aiming to lead Dinwiddie to consecutive state titles.

Tedruhn Tucker, sr., Galax (Virginia)

Tucker has over 3,000 career high school rushing yards, mostly coming from a dominant junior season. He finished with 2,137 yards and 20 touchdowns on the ground, averaging 194.3 per game.

(Soren Rief photo by Jimmy Zanor/Norwich Bulletin / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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-- Mike Swanson | swanson@scorebooklive | @sblivesports