Shon Davis likes to run

Give Shon Davis the football and a block and he’s in his element.

The Central Valley High School senior is the Bears’ leading rusher, despite being slowed by a badly bruised forearm and a deep thigh bruise.

“I’ve been a little banged up the last couple weeks and I haven’t been on the field as much as I would have liked,” Davis said. “But I’m ready to get after it this week.”

The forearm bruise came from being banged by three different helmets in last week’s loss to Lake City

“I do a lot of different things,” he said “I return kickoffs, I return punts, I play running back and I play safety on defense.

“Once I started to get banged up, the coaches stopped putting me in on defense to protect me a little bit. I didn’t carry the ball much against Lake City (seven carries for 41 yards), but I did come in and caught a pass for a touchdown – I didn’t want my team to get shut out in that game.”

Davis took it easy in practice early this week, waiting for the swelling in his forearm to go down. To help prevent further damage, he wears a padded sleeve from his elbow to his wrist.

“That helps,” he said. “It sort of helps deflect a hit and prevents me from hurting it more than it already is.”

For the Bears, 2-3 in the GSL with three games remaining in the season, it’s important to have Davis in the offensive backfield and handling the ball in the return game – even though it means not having a safety with a knack for picking off passes.

Stuck behind a pair of quality senior running backs last year and relegated to the junior varsity, Davis quickly made a name for himself this year. Playing in five of his team’s six games, he’s carried the football 60 times for 471 yards.

“I was frustrated last year,” he said. “I was having a great season on the junior varsity, but I was stuck as the third string running back. But you have to wait for your opportunity and take advantage of it when it comes along.

“I’m working now to improve my time in the 40-yard dash. My fastest time is 4.7 seconds, but I want to bring that down for the college coaches.”

Davis’ average of 7.85 yards per carry is second best in the Greater Spokane League, almost a yard per carry better than league-leading rusher Ryan Campbell of East Valley, who has 656 yards on 93 rushes (7.05 yards per carry).

“I was trying to stay at the top of the league in rushing,” Davis said. “But getting banged up last week slowed me down a little.”

Rushing is nothing new for Davis, however.

After he finishes football practice, he generally heads off to put in a few hours working at Wild Noodles restaurant on Sullivan Road.

“I stay pretty busy,” he said. “When I’m not working, after football I head straight to church. I just have time to do my homework to keep my grades up.”

On the football field, staying on the run pays off, starting with the opening kick-off.

“I love returning kicks,” Davis said. “On kick-offs, you get to reach top speed. When you return punts, you have guys breathing down your neck and you have to decide whether or not to stick your hand in the air for a fair catch.

“Even when you’re running from scrimmage, you aren’t getting up to top speed unless you get into the secondary.”

For just that purpose, Davis said, Central Valley’s fullbacks are good at helping him into the defensive secondary.

“I love having our fullbacks in front of me,” Davis laughed. “Those guys are great blockers. I love getting right in behind them and cutting off their blocks.”

Running the football is an instinctive act, Davis explained.

“I kind of feel my way along,” he said. “I love that feeling. Seeing the blocks and knowing when to cut – you don’t think about it, you just do it.”