Jimmy Daw’s going to be Jimmy Daw whether he’s Jimmy Daw the standout running back or Jimmy Daw the regular ol’ high school student.
Medina football coach Dan Sutherland wouldn’t want his junior captain any other way.
(RON SCHWANE / GAZETTE)
Standing 6-foot-4 and checking in at 200 pounds with a frame to carry more, Daw is the lone returning skill position player for a Bees team that, by most accounts, is on the rise.
Bump into him on the street, however, and the average Joe wouldn’t guess that from Daw’s demeanor, although his athletic physique offers a hint.
“I always make a joke that if Jimmy Daw runs for 300 yards, he’s the exact same if he rushes for 0 yards,” Sutherland said. “I’ve seen Jimmy Daw come off the field after a 90-yard touchdown run and I’d say, ‘Great job, Jimmy,’ and he’d say, ‘Thanks, Coach.’ He’s even-keeled all the time, and that helps him. He never gets too high, he never gets too low. He just works hard.”
Daw fits the mold of an old-school soul with a new-school build, as running backs traditionally aren’t tall and long-legged. He looks more like a college tight end prospect — that’s what happened to 6-3, 230 Highland all-time leading rusher Chris Snook when he went to West Virginia six years ago — but Bowling Green State University offered Daw a scholarship, which remains on the table, to play running back.
Daw rushing for 805 yards and 12 touchdowns in nine starts as a sophomore didn’t look like much to the average fan, but Division I coaches took notice because the Bees played five playoff teams and two other opponents with winning records.
A 205-yard effort with a pair of breakaway touchdowns last week in a 56-13 win against Lakewood certainly didn’t hurt.
“It was an awesome experience for me,” Daw said of starting as a sophomore and seeing some part-time duty as a freshman. “To be in the program for three years has taught me a lot of things — to be tough and to be a leader on this team.
“Now I’m the big gun, so everyone’s smaller than me. I’m turning into what the other guys were when I was a freshman, basically.”
Daw is the most hyped member of a hyped junior class that has given Medina hope for its first winning season since the magical playoff run of 2010. Claggett Middle School never lost a game with Daw in the backfield, and A.I. Root went 14-2. It’s not hard to figure out which team Root lost to each season.
Daw is far from the only class of 2017 standout, as Ryan Seabrook (DL), Nick Pankow (LB), Chris Fryer (OL) and Garrett Grandis (OL) also started last season. One of the varsity newcomers, quarterback John Curtis, threw three TDs in his first start last week and another, Jonathan Lally, recovered a fumble.
Opposing defensive coordinators, though, zero in on Daw first, which is one of the reasons the Bees switched to a spread offense with four receivers. With no more than eight players in the box these days, Daw can set up defenders more easily before cutting downhill and using his 4.5-second speed in the 40-yard dash.
Vision is what impresses Sutherland most, as Daw uses intelligence to offset his natural inability to hide behind offensive linemen like smaller backs. He’ll carry defenders for extra yardage and catch passes, too — he had 26 grabs and three TDs last season — making him a true every-down back.
Jimmy Daw
“One thing he does better than most backs at the high school level is his vision is fantastic,” Sutherland said. “I don’t know if it’s just an innate ability or he’s been playing running back so long he’s learned how to play the position. It’s a natural feel for him.”
Daw already is inching his way up Medina’s record books. With 1,126 career rushing yards, he needs to average 115.7 over the next 19 games to break the school record of 3,322 set by Medina County Sports Hall of Famer Dean “Mighty Mite” Brubaker in the late 1940s. This, of course, is assuming the Bees don’t make the playoffs and Daw remains healthy.
Statistics really aren’t much of a concern to Daw. Putting the Bees on the map within Northeast Ohio circles — something that hasn’t happened in consecutive years since the late 1990s — is far more important.
“We’re just trying to stay confident and not get too cocky,” Daw said. “We’re coming into this week with the mentality that we’re going to win. We’ve just got to stay focused, follow techniques and we’ll be good.”
Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.