BOULDER – On a 3-and-1 play near the goal line during California’s 2016 North Coast sectional championship game, star running back Najee Harris got the handoff for Antioch High School.
Then the No. 1 recruiting prospect in the country met Nate Landman in the backfield.
“(Landman) broke through the line and tackled him, stone cold, for a two-yard loss,” recalled Matt Russi, Landman’s defensive coordinator at Monte Vista High School about 20 miles east of Oakland. “He’s playing the No. 1 running back in the country, but you couldn’t tell. There was no advantage there.
“That, to me, was like, ‘Wow, this kid’s special.