PENN LAIRD — From the moment Ricky Suggs

showed up in the summer of 2005, it was obvious Spotswood High School hadn't

seen anything like him before.

With his hair in dreadlocks and a removable silver dental grill in his mouth,

the newcomer from Miami didn't exactly appear at home in his new rural

surroundings.

"I don't know, I just felt out of place," Suggs said with a laugh after

football practice Wednesday. "Everybody was staring at me. That's why I

really didn't come outside, 'cause I didn't really know anybody or

anything like that. Then after I got used to it, I started coming to the weight

room and being more involved with the football team."

Suggs doesn't blend in with the crowd on the football field, either, but

that's a good thing for Spotswood. After two injury-plagued seasons, Suggs is

justifying the hype that's surrounded him since his arrival, and he's

putting together the best season of his varsity career for the Trailblazers.

Through five games, the 5-foot-10, 175-pound senior has run for 606 yards and

seven touchdowns on 86 carries — an average of 8.0 yards per rush — while

catching nine passes for 83 yards.

With that production, it's no surprise the Blazers are trying to get the ball

in Suggs' hands as often as possible. In addition to his running back duties,

Suggs returns kickoffs and punts, has lined up at receiver and has even spent

time at quarterback, although he overthrew his only pass.

"It's the trend in college and everywhere," offensive coordinator Dale

Shifflett said. "You just put an athlete back there with the ball in his

hands, and let him go. You just spread [the defense] out and snap him the ball

and just let him go."

Suggs' talent has tantalized his coaches since he moved to Virginia to live

with his older brother Trevor Jones, a former Bridgewater College football

player.

"He came up here for Bridgewater and he never came back down there," Suggs

said, "and he wanted me to come up here and live with him for a year to see if

I liked it. So then I came up here and just figured I would finish my high

school career up here."

As a freshman, Suggs exploded on the scene in his first varsity game, tallying

255 total yards and two touchdowns, including an 81-yard kickoff return in a

season-opening win over William Monroe.

The following week, however, he injured the anterior cruciate ligament in his

right knee in a loss to Millbrook and was limited the rest of the season.

"He played those last couple of games with it tore before he got it diagnosed

the right way," SHS defensive backs coach Tim Leach said. "He had a brace on

it, and at the end of the season they said it was tore. And he played with it.

The kid's tough."

Suggs returned the following year and played well before the injury bug bit

again -- he broke his left ankle in a Week 8 loss to Harrisonburg.

"It's just bad luck," SHS coach Eric Phillips said of the injuries. "The

shot against Millbrook on the sidelines, that was just a freak injury, and the

same thing against Harrisonburg down here last year with his ankle. When you

play this game, there's always a chance of getting injured, and he just

happened to be the guy, but it wasn't because of his work ethic or anything

like that."

In all, the injuries threatened to curtail Suggs' promising career, and the

Blazers stumbled to consecutive three-win seasons. Meanwhile, Harrisonburg's

Alex Owah seized the title of area football's next big star.

Suggs admitted that for the first few games after returning from knee surgery,

he played hesitant and thought about the injury. Though he's back to normal

now, staying healthy was his focus in the offseason, and Leach laughed while

recalling Suggs' method of preventative care.

"All offseason, he walked around with a glass of milk and some protein shakes

trying to build his bone density," he said. "He had a milkshake everywhere

he went."

Suggs' health wasn't the only factor that threatened to cut his promising

career short. Because he had to repeat the seventh grade in Florida, he'll be

19 years old before the beginning of what would have initially been his senior

year. The Virginia High School League does not allow students who turn 19 before

Aug. 1 to compete in athletics that school year.

Suggs said former SHS athletic director Eric Baylor came up with the idea of

having Suggs undertake a rigorous academic load in order to help Suggs graduate

a year early, and administrators approved the plan.

"I only have a couple of electives, and the rest is, like, core classes I'm

taking," said Suggs, whose schedule is comprised of seven different classes.

"Basically, I'm just stacked with core classes this year. [Usually,

students] would have teacher's assistant and stuff like that to just relax in,

but I'm taking all core classes.

"At the beginning, it was like, 'Aw, I don't think I'll make it.' But

by the third, fourth week in school, it's not that bad."

Suggs said his situation has helped him realize the importance of academics,

adding it's a point he tries to hammer home to younger players.

"Yeah, I'm telling them, 'Stay in the books,'" he said. "That's

the only way out."

Because of his injuries and the change in his academic standing, college

recruiters haven't come hard after Suggs, though Phillips said he's garnered

interest from schools at every level.

In the meantime, Suggs and the Blazers are hopeful he can carry the load a while

longer, as the team looks to make its first postseason appearance since 2002.

"I think our student body fell in love with him from the first day he got

here," Phillips said of Suggs. "What was that chant they had down there on

the sidelines for him his first season? 'Hey Ricky, he's so fine….' He

just came in and he just fit right in with the kids. Coming from Miami, I think

the way he related to our student body, I didn't think it could have been a

smoother transition."

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