Braden River Pirates football adds another cannonball

For the second offseason in a row, the Braden River football team has bolstered its offense by turning a Sailor into a Pirate.

Last year, it was quarterback Brian Gagg who jumped ship to Braden River, and this year it is running back Brian Battie, who ran for 1,200 yards and 19 touchdowns in nine games as a sophomore last season for a 5-6 team. Pirates fans may remember Battie from his 217-yard, two touchdown performance against them last season, in a 41-14 Braden River win.

Trust me when I say that Battie, who played freshman football at Braden River before going to Sarasota, is the real deal. I was at that Braden River game last season, along with a handful of other Sarasota games, and coaches were wowed by his ability. He’s slight in stature at 5-foot-8, sure, but man, can he run. Battie himself compared his playing style to that of former Braden River running back Raymond Thomas, which should make the Pirates faithful dizzy with glee. Thomas is now playing at Northwest Missouri State University, a top Division II program.

“I think I can do the same thing he did, or maybe better,” Battie said.

Battie said his field vision is his best attribute, and I agree. The way he waits for his linemen to set blocks before bursting through the hole is rare in high school backs.

He also has good speed and the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield, something that offensive coordinator Eric Sanders asks his backs to do, and not just on screen passes. Last year, Deshaun Fenwick caught 11 passes for 177 yards and three touchdowns. Battie said he loves the way Sanders coaches and believes Sanders “knows how to use (him).”

He enrolled during the second half of the school year and has been getting to know Gagg and his new offensive linemen. They work out every day, he said, and he’s gone with Gagg to run routes and find familiarity. When spring football starts — on April 23, can you believe it? — he will be ready to show what he’s got, he said.

While Battie has yet to receive an “official” offer, he said schools including the universities of South Florida, Central Florida, Rutgers and Florida International had inquired about him to Sarasota coaches. His size may have initially scared some teams, but Battie isn’t worried about it.

“I’m quick on my feet,” Battie said. “I’m smaller, but I make up for it with my strength.”

With the departure of Fenwick to the University of South Carolina, there is a hole in the backfield that Battie and Camaron White, who contributed as a junior last season, will be asked to fill. Battie said his goal is to get at least 1,800 yards on the ground (with 2,000 yards as the next-level goal) and, of course, to win a state championship, something that has eluded the Pirates during coach Curt Bradley’s tenure.

With Gagg, who verbally committed to East Carolina University on March 24, and wide receiver Knowledge McDaniel — who has continued collecting scholarship offers, including from the University of Georgia — returning, plus Battie, the Braden River offense looks to be as strong as ever. This might be the move that puts the program over the top.