Ben Herlocker has been
following in big footsteps since birth, but that hasn’t stopped him from
covering plenty of ground in his 18 years.
Herlocker was born to high
school basketball stars, Tom and Beth Herlocker, who are still regarded
as two of the best athletes in the history of Charlotte Catholic High
School.
Older brother Joel was a
standout wide receiver for Charlotte Catholic’s 2004 state championship
football team and is currently a student at N.C. State.
But the biggest shoes Ben
Herlocker has had to fill occurred last year when he stepped in at
fullback for Charlotte Catholic to replace Nick Starcevic. Herlocker had
been a starter at defensive end and Starcevic’s backup at fullback prior
to last season.
Starcevic had run for
1,994 yards and scored 30 touchdowns in propelling Charlotte Catholic to
the state 2-AA title as a senior in 2004. He capped his prep career by
earning MVP honors in the 14-7 state title win over Western Alamance,
rushing for 93 yards and scoring the winning touchdown with one minute
to play.
The performance helped
earn Starcevic a scholarship to play at North Carolina where he’ll be
the starting fullback this season.
“You don’t really replace
someone like Nick,’’ Herlocker said. “There was some pressure. I knew
people would be watching to see how I did replacing him. I just tried to
come in, work hard and do the best I could to help our team win.’’
Herlocker didn’t
disappoint. He rushed for 1,775 yards and scored 32 touchdowns in Coach
Jim Oddo’s Wing-T offense at Charlotte Catholic as a junior. More
importantly, he duplicated Starcevic’s MVP performance in the state
championship game as Charlotte Catholic completed another 16-0 season
with a title.
For East Carolina, that
was more than enough to earn Herlocker a scholarship offer. The 6-foot,
205-pounder accepted the invitation in late July to become the fifth
member of the Pirates recruiting Class of 2007.
ECU was the first school
to offer Herlocker, although other such as Wake Forest and Vanderbilt
were also giving him serious looks, according to Oddo.
“I always tell kids to be
careful because recruiting is like going to a school dance,’’ Oddo said.
“Every girl may give you one dance and you still end up going home by
yourself. A lot of schools may look at you, but they (ECU) stepped up
with an offer. I think Ben was appreciative to get an offer, and when he
went down there to visit he really liked it.
“They’ve got themselves a
really good football player, and he’s getting better all the time.’’
Oddo said Herlocker plays
the fullback position in manner unlike that of Starcevic.
“He’s definitely
different,’’ Oddo said. “He has a lot more speed (4.5 in 40-yard dash).
Starcevic was bigger. He was about 230 pounds in high school. Ben was
just 185 last year and is now about 205 because he’s been working out so
hard.
“But both were very
explosive backs. Ben’s just much quicker. He could play tailback. He
averaged nine yards per carry last year and most of his carries were on
third-and-one and short-yardage type situations. But he was still able
to get the first downs and average over nine yards per carry. That’s a
pretty strong statement when you think about it.’’
Herlocker considers
himself a cross between a tailback and a fullback. He’s developed his
speed by running track and has been timed at 11.4 seconds in the
100-meter dash.
“I’m able to break
tackles, then once I do that I can get out in the open,’’ Herlocker
said. “It’s hard for defensive backs to take me down because of my size.
I’m also able to use my speed to move around them.’’
Signing a fullback was one
of East Carolina’s priorities in recruiting this year. The first two
fullbacks on the Pirates depth chart entering 2006 are both seniors in
Patrick Dosh and Kort Shankweiler. The only other scholarship fullback
on the roster is freshman Kevin Gidrey.
Herlocker believes he’ll
get an immediate opportunity to make an impact when he reaches
Greenville in 2007.
“They have two seniors (at
fullback) and it seems to me like I would be right in the mix once I get
there,’’ Herlocker said. “Hopefully, I would get a chance to play a
great deal my freshman year.’’
