From The Sun's Pat O'Malley:

If you haven't seen Dunbar running back Tavon Austin, you owe it to yourself to do so in the playoffs or by next season (2008) -- before he takes his skills to the collegiate fields.

Austin is at least as good as any back that has ever played around here and probably is
the best ever. He has the moves and numbers to prove it and already has scholarship
offers from Maryland, Boston College and Rutgers.

Austin and the No. 2-ranked Poets (10-0) start defense of their Class 1A state crown against Forestville (6-3) of Prince George's County Saturday at 1 p.m. at Poly.

The 5-foot-9, 160-pound junior enters the playoffs with 82 touchdowns (29 this season) and needs only six to surpass the state record -- 87 by Old Mill's Ryan Callahan (2003-05).

In career rushing yards, Austin has 4,598 (1,849 this season) and needs 1,323 to eclipse
the state record of 5,920 by Ben Tate, who played on the Eastern Shore (2003-05) at
Stephen Decatur and Snow Hill. Austin should smash that mark next season.

There have been so many gifted running backs through the years, among them Poly's Alvin Lee and Loyola's Henry Blaha in the mid '60s; Arundel's Louis Carter in the late '60s and early '70s; Annapolis' Donald "Turkey" Brown, Arundel's Troy ""Burner'' Turner and Wilde Lake's Rapheal Wall in the '80s; Annapolis' Rayvon Johnson, Meade's Tanardo Sharps, Randallstown's Larry Washington and Dunbar's Ali Culpepper in the '90s; Old Mill's Callahan and Eastern Tech's Dietrich Wright since 2000.

You can put Tavon Austin's name at the top of that list.