AUSTIN O'BRIEN

SCHOOL: Gravette CLASS: Senior HEIGHT: 6-0 WEIGHT: 190 POSITION: Running back/ Defensive back THE SCOOP: O’Brien rushed for a region-best 2,294 yards on 271 carries and scored 27 rushing touchdowns for Gravette, the No. 3 seed from the 4A-1 Conference. … He also caught 10 passes for 203 yards as a receiver out of the backfield. … Defensively, O’Brien was a lockdown corner and finished with 80 tackles and 3 interceptions. … O’Brien also returned kickoffs on occasion, rarely coming off the field. … His 2,294 yards broke the school rushing record. … In his final high school game, O’Brien rushed for 342 yards on 45 carries and scored 6 touchdowns against Heber Springs in the playoffs. … Booneville was the only team to hold O’Brien under 200 yards in a game. … As a junior, O’Brien rushed for 1,034 yards, a number he surpassed in the sixth game of the season. … He rushed for more than 200 yards in a game six times and had a three-week stretch where he was over 200 all three games. DID YOU KNOW?: O’Brien is being looked at by a number of college programs including Arkansas Tech. He is unsure if he will play offense or defense in college, but is hoping to play offense. “I never thought I would win something like thiS. Coming into the year, I thought I could have a good year, but this just exceeded my expectations. I had a great offensive line blocking for me, so that really helped. “About midway through the season, I was like, ‘Man, I’m already past where I was last year.’ That’s when I realized this was going to be a really good season. “There were some games I just hated to come off the field, even if it was just for a couple of plays. I would get back in there as quick as I could.”