Game Time Blog

Bryce Miller’s stature reflects his personality. Standing just 5-foot-6, 175 pounds, the Gar-Field running back is easy to overlook when surveying the sea of Indians players wherever they gather.

Even I missed him while at Tuesday’s practice. Only his identifiable No. 1 jersey makes him to standout at all.

A quiet kid—though not one short on confidence—Miller is making noise in the college recruiting game now. He’s already amassed 266 yards in two games, including a 173-yard effort in a hard-fought 13-8 home win over Stonewall last Friday.

Miller
Miller, a three-year starter, is a little more than 1,100 yards shy of the school’s all-time rushing leader Joe Miller (1978-81), who went on to play at Oklahoma State. If Gar-Field’s current Miller has another season like his sophomore one when he totalled 1,520 yards, he’ll easily eclipse the elder Miller’s mark.

Miller is humble about his place as an Indians tailback.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if I was kind of low on that chart,“ he said. “We’ve had a lot of good backs that have played at Gar-Field.“

A shifty runner, Miller uses his size—or lack of size in his case—to his advantage every week. He squeezes through holes that other backs would never even consider as options. He is the reason coaches teach defenders hit-and-wrap tackling techniques, making defenders look silly for trying to arm tackle him.

Gar-Field coach Tom Gryder attributes Miller’s ability to find openings to strong vision and footwork.

“His vision is what sets him apart,“ Gryder said. “He played soccer when he was growing up. Good feet and vision allow him to be able to read stuff and be able to attack.“

Miller’s an almost stark contrast to a backs like Ryan Williams at Stonewall and most recently De’Antwan Williams at Woodbridge. Gryder calls Miller a zone back, using his ability to change direction at will to creat opportunities on the field as opposed to the downhill style De’Antwan Williams ran with.

“His ability to cutback,“ Gryder explained, “allows him to make decisions based on what he sees. He’s got a lot of good reads and that’s helped him immensely.“

“That’s come out of nowhere,“ Miller said. “I’ve always had vision, but when I played Pop Warner, I couldn’t juke for anything.

“The defense I played against [at Gar-Field] my sophomore year, they made me juke,“ he explained. “I used to go against them in practice and they had some hitters. I didn’t like getting hit all the time. I had to change my way of running.“

Over the summer Miller attended one-day camps at Maryland, Vanderbilt, Temple, James Madison and Liberty. Gryder said those camps are quasi-tryouts as coaching staffs bring in numerous players at each position and run them through a full day’s worth of drills. The coaches then decide which players to recruit.

“That was intense; it was more intense than I thought it was going to be,“ Miller said. “It’s just strenuous workouts.“

Miller’s grades and SAT scores are already qualified for the NCAA Clearinghouse and he’ll have options to play in college by the end of the high school season.