Barrett Needs His Rest To Be At His Best
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
NORTH MANCHESTER - David Barrett would be Aunt Bee's kind of guy.
The doting aunt with the flutey voice on the "Andy Griffith Show" chirped all kinds of little ditties, but the one that applies here is, "Every hour of sleep before midnight is worth two after midnight."
David Barrett is an 18-year-old senior at Manchester High School. Around here, he's better known for leading the state in rushing with 2,021 yards, the only player to break 2,000.
If the state's leading rusher is a stickler on one detail in his life, it's his Thursday night bedtime.
"He likes to be in bed by 9:30 the night before," Manchester coach Al Bailey says. "He makes sure he gets a good night's rest the night before Friday's game.
"In bed by 9:30 ... that's when most high school guys are just warming up."
Oh, Aunt Bee would like more about David Barrett than his early Thursday night bedtime. She would like his soft-spokenness, the way, at least in this interview, he seems unassuming.
"He's pretty serious," Bailey says, "at least when it comes to football."
She, like Bailey, would like his work ethic. Barrett is the first one in the weight room. He's the last one out of the weight room. When he's not going to class, lifting weights or rushing the football, he works at Pizza Hut.
You say you hear that about a lot of guys. But wait, there's more.
"He always wants to make sure things are put up," Bailey says, "locked up and squared away."
The weight training, this must be the secret.
It is the secret to the success of a player who carried the ball 282 times in nine regular-season games, who still insists his legs do not feel fatigued, do not feel heavy, do not bother him in any way.
It is the secret to the success of the player who smoked the previous school record of 1,400 rushing yards in a season, set in 1972.
Only two other players in the state leader list passed 240 carries. Barrett averaged 31.3 carries per game.
"Right now I have one or two bruises," Barrett says. "That's it. Usually I'm tired after the game, but I enjoy getting the carries."
Does he ever get tired of the workload, coach Bailey?
"I don't think he knows that word," Bailey says.
It is fitting that when asked if he has a nickname, Barrett says no, but adds, "Some newspapers call me a 'workhorse.'"
Bailey made sure not to wear his workhorse out. The last time Barrett carried the ball 30 times in a game was Oct. 9. He carried it only 19 times last week in the first round of the sectional, when the Squires blasted Madison-Grant 34-0.
Barrett is also a linebacker, but Bailey has cut his time on defense down to a quarter.
Barrett is 5-foot-10 and weighs 180 pounds. He bench presses 315 pounds once and 275 pounds six times. He leg presses 480 pounds. His body fat is 7 percent.
"Pound for pound, he's probably the strongest on the team," Bailey says. "He and C.J. Brown, who's one of the smallest guys on the team. It's close."
Then there's that "40" time that is the hip football term these days. All the colleges and all the pro scouts want to know a guy's 40-yard dash time.
"I was clocked at a 4.44 in the gym," Barrett says.
Barrett is blessed with speed and with strength, two reasons he is talking Division I Mid American Conference schools when he talks future and football. He says he can turn to either trait during a football game.
"I change," he said. "I can run shifty, or I can run powerful. Run over people. Those are the two ways I run. I like to run inside the tackles."
Says Bailey: "He's a patient runner with good vision. He lets things happen. If he needs to put a shoulder down, he will. He's always trying to get that last extra yard. Very seldom does he driven backward for a loss. He's always going forward."
Running backs often have that one run they remember, and Barrett is no exception. At his seat in the Manchester coaching office, he diagrams the play by drawing imaginary lines with his index finger on the table.
"I had a good one against Mississinewa," he says. "I broke through on the outside. I was running and their cornerback was chasing me. He had an angle on me. He caught up. But I stopped and went around him at the (5-yard line) and got a touchdown.
"Coach has it on film. It's one of my better ones."
His longest run is 76 yards, the same number as one of the favorite things in his life, his orange '76 Pontiac Firebird.
"It was my first car," he says. "My dad works on it. I just pay for it."
Just like he pays the compliments to his offensive line. Barrett shrugged off any praise when asked about leading the state in rushing.
"It's a big honor," he said. "I had a lot of help. I couldn't do it without the front six, counting the tight end."
A gentleman who deflects praise elsewhere.
David Barrett has to be Aunt Bee's kind of guy. [[In-content Ad]]
NORTH MANCHESTER - David Barrett would be Aunt Bee's kind of guy.
The doting aunt with the flutey voice on the "Andy Griffith Show" chirped all kinds of little ditties, but the one that applies here is, "Every hour of sleep before midnight is worth two after midnight."
David Barrett is an 18-year-old senior at Manchester High School. Around here, he's better known for leading the state in rushing with 2,021 yards, the only player to break 2,000.
If the state's leading rusher is a stickler on one detail in his life, it's his Thursday night bedtime.
"He likes to be in bed by 9:30 the night before," Manchester coach Al Bailey says. "He makes sure he gets a good night's rest the night before Friday's game.
"In bed by 9:30 ... that's when most high school guys are just warming up."
Oh, Aunt Bee would like more about David Barrett than his early Thursday night bedtime. She would like his soft-spokenness, the way, at least in this interview, he seems unassuming.
"He's pretty serious," Bailey says, "at least when it comes to football."
She, like Bailey, would like his work ethic. Barrett is the first one in the weight room. He's the last one out of the weight room. When he's not going to class, lifting weights or rushing the football, he works at Pizza Hut.
You say you hear that about a lot of guys. But wait, there's more.
"He always wants to make sure things are put up," Bailey says, "locked up and squared away."
The weight training, this must be the secret.
It is the secret to the success of a player who carried the ball 282 times in nine regular-season games, who still insists his legs do not feel fatigued, do not feel heavy, do not bother him in any way.
It is the secret to the success of the player who smoked the previous school record of 1,400 rushing yards in a season, set in 1972.
Only two other players in the state leader list passed 240 carries. Barrett averaged 31.3 carries per game.
"Right now I have one or two bruises," Barrett says. "That's it. Usually I'm tired after the game, but I enjoy getting the carries."
Does he ever get tired of the workload, coach Bailey?
"I don't think he knows that word," Bailey says.
It is fitting that when asked if he has a nickname, Barrett says no, but adds, "Some newspapers call me a 'workhorse.'"
Bailey made sure not to wear his workhorse out. The last time Barrett carried the ball 30 times in a game was Oct. 9. He carried it only 19 times last week in the first round of the sectional, when the Squires blasted Madison-Grant 34-0.
Barrett is also a linebacker, but Bailey has cut his time on defense down to a quarter.
Barrett is 5-foot-10 and weighs 180 pounds. He bench presses 315 pounds once and 275 pounds six times. He leg presses 480 pounds. His body fat is 7 percent.
"Pound for pound, he's probably the strongest on the team," Bailey says. "He and C.J. Brown, who's one of the smallest guys on the team. It's close."
Then there's that "40" time that is the hip football term these days. All the colleges and all the pro scouts want to know a guy's 40-yard dash time.
"I was clocked at a 4.44 in the gym," Barrett says.
Barrett is blessed with speed and with strength, two reasons he is talking Division I Mid American Conference schools when he talks future and football. He says he can turn to either trait during a football game.
"I change," he said. "I can run shifty, or I can run powerful. Run over people. Those are the two ways I run. I like to run inside the tackles."
Says Bailey: "He's a patient runner with good vision. He lets things happen. If he needs to put a shoulder down, he will. He's always trying to get that last extra yard. Very seldom does he driven backward for a loss. He's always going forward."
Running backs often have that one run they remember, and Barrett is no exception. At his seat in the Manchester coaching office, he diagrams the play by drawing imaginary lines with his index finger on the table.
"I had a good one against Mississinewa," he says. "I broke through on the outside. I was running and their cornerback was chasing me. He had an angle on me. He caught up. But I stopped and went around him at the (5-yard line) and got a touchdown.
"Coach has it on film. It's one of my better ones."
His longest run is 76 yards, the same number as one of the favorite things in his life, his orange '76 Pontiac Firebird.
"It was my first car," he says. "My dad works on it. I just pay for it."
Just like he pays the compliments to his offensive line. Barrett shrugged off any praise when asked about leading the state in rushing.
"It's a big honor," he said. "I had a lot of help. I couldn't do it without the front six, counting the tight end."
A gentleman who deflects praise elsewhere.
David Barrett has to be Aunt Bee's kind of guy. [[In-content Ad]]