Wheat King
January 31st, 2009, 11:05 AM
Harris signs with BC Lions
There is, Andrew Harris admitted, a jaw-dropping quality associated with his rushing numbers in what he hopes are the final two games of his junior football career.
When you gain 780 yards along the ground, score seven touchdowns and average over a first down on every carry on the way last month to helping Nanaimo's Vancouver Island Raiders to another Canadian Junior Football League title, there is a natural desire to be tested further.
That was made possible Monday when the B.C. Lions, who hold the rights to the 21-year-old as a territorial protection, extended an invitation for Harris to attend his second straight CFL training camp.
It may turn out that at 5-foot-11 and 195 pounds he will be deemed too small like so many others, though the same was being said by some Lions coaches last training camp of Stefan Logan, and Harris will be asked to steamroll over juniors for another season.
It may be the move is no more than a typical goodwill gesture. If so, Harris will eventually go back to his normal workplace existence, but he will always have what he attained in successive mind-blowing weeks with the Raiders.
He had 411 combined yards on 38 touches to help his team upset the Saskatoon Hilltops in the national semifinal. Harris then followed that up with a record 410 rushing yards on 32 carries a week later in defeating Burlington, Ont., to win the Canadian Bowl national final.
With those kinds of numbers, no wonder Sports Illustrated was reportedly sniffing around in search of a footnote or two.
Harris, who finished his fourth junior season with 29 touchdowns in 14 games, helped make it two national titles in three seasons for the Raiders, who have established a dominant presence in only four years of operation.
It has also forced the Lions to look more seriously at the Winnipeg-born runner, who works at the Nanaimo Athletic Club selling memberships to support his girlfriend and newborn daughter.
Last year, the Lions tried to make him a slotback.
"We kind of joked about that, but I guess the last couple of weeks my junior career kind of blew up," Harris said. "It was tough for me to go to camp as a slot, because I didn't know what I was doing and had to learn the fundamentals. But it made me stronger."
B.C.'s track record nurturing homegrown junior talent has been reasonably good, though receiver Josh Boden was cut last year and kicker Sean Whyte and offensive lineman Lorne Plante are still struggling to move ahead.
"Guys haven't always worked out," said Lions personnel coordinator Neil McEvoy, who formally cut ties with defensive tackle Tyrone Williams Monday.
"But Andrew's numbers in his last two games are unheard-of. They are a prime example of a guy who may be able to step up to the next level."
As Raiders coach Matt Blokker, told the Nanaimo Daily News: "He's the best junior football player I have ever coached and he's the best junior football player I have ever seen."
Translated, that might be just enough to get Harris a practice roster spot to start apprenticing on special teams.
"It's something I'd love to do and something I'd have to do to make a roster," Harris said. "I have a family to support and if I make a practice roster I can do that. I want to move on. That's my goal."
A healthy number of junior football defenders will be hoping he's successful.
lullrich@theprovince.com
There is, Andrew Harris admitted, a jaw-dropping quality associated with his rushing numbers in what he hopes are the final two games of his junior football career.
When you gain 780 yards along the ground, score seven touchdowns and average over a first down on every carry on the way last month to helping Nanaimo's Vancouver Island Raiders to another Canadian Junior Football League title, there is a natural desire to be tested further.
That was made possible Monday when the B.C. Lions, who hold the rights to the 21-year-old as a territorial protection, extended an invitation for Harris to attend his second straight CFL training camp.
It may turn out that at 5-foot-11 and 195 pounds he will be deemed too small like so many others, though the same was being said by some Lions coaches last training camp of Stefan Logan, and Harris will be asked to steamroll over juniors for another season.
It may be the move is no more than a typical goodwill gesture. If so, Harris will eventually go back to his normal workplace existence, but he will always have what he attained in successive mind-blowing weeks with the Raiders.
He had 411 combined yards on 38 touches to help his team upset the Saskatoon Hilltops in the national semifinal. Harris then followed that up with a record 410 rushing yards on 32 carries a week later in defeating Burlington, Ont., to win the Canadian Bowl national final.
With those kinds of numbers, no wonder Sports Illustrated was reportedly sniffing around in search of a footnote or two.
Harris, who finished his fourth junior season with 29 touchdowns in 14 games, helped make it two national titles in three seasons for the Raiders, who have established a dominant presence in only four years of operation.
It has also forced the Lions to look more seriously at the Winnipeg-born runner, who works at the Nanaimo Athletic Club selling memberships to support his girlfriend and newborn daughter.
Last year, the Lions tried to make him a slotback.
"We kind of joked about that, but I guess the last couple of weeks my junior career kind of blew up," Harris said. "It was tough for me to go to camp as a slot, because I didn't know what I was doing and had to learn the fundamentals. But it made me stronger."
B.C.'s track record nurturing homegrown junior talent has been reasonably good, though receiver Josh Boden was cut last year and kicker Sean Whyte and offensive lineman Lorne Plante are still struggling to move ahead.
"Guys haven't always worked out," said Lions personnel coordinator Neil McEvoy, who formally cut ties with defensive tackle Tyrone Williams Monday.
"But Andrew's numbers in his last two games are unheard-of. They are a prime example of a guy who may be able to step up to the next level."
As Raiders coach Matt Blokker, told the Nanaimo Daily News: "He's the best junior football player I have ever coached and he's the best junior football player I have ever seen."
Translated, that might be just enough to get Harris a practice roster spot to start apprenticing on special teams.
"It's something I'd love to do and something I'd have to do to make a roster," Harris said. "I have a family to support and if I make a practice roster I can do that. I want to move on. That's my goal."
A healthy number of junior football defenders will be hoping he's successful.
lullrich@theprovince.com