GETTING NOTICED
Lausanne’s Cunningham rushes for 3 TDS with TSU’S George in the crowd
“First of all, he’s super smart. He barely ever busts in our pass protection or run game. He’s played a lot of football for us. He had to sit behind Eric Gray when he was young, but he learned a lot from Eric. He learned a lot schematically about what we do. Craig had a really good last year and he’s picked up where he left off.
He’s added a few pounds and some muscle mass. He’s really hard to tackle.”
Kevin Locastro
Lausanne coach on Craig Cunningham
Craig Cunningham was walking back to the locker room at halftime when he caught a glimpse of Tennessee State football coach Eddie George. The former Heisman Trophy winner is in Memphis for the Southern Heritage Classic, where the first-year coach has the Tigers playing Jackson State on Saturday.
“He was taller than I thought he was going to be,” Cunningham said. “I was just glad that he’s in town and took the time out to see our game. Hopefully I showed him what I can bring to the table.”
Cunningham, a 5-foot-10, 190pound senior running back, muscled in three first-quarter touchdowns propelling Lausanne to a
35-0 shutout over Bartlett. He finished with 169 yards on 22 carries. The running clock started at halftime. Lausanne, which beat Wooddale 49-0 last week has yet to give up a point this season.
“I thought that was probably as good of a first quarter that we’ve played in a long time,” Lausanne coach Kevin Locastro said. “We had four offensive possessions and scored all four times. The defense gave up a couple first downs, but a couple of those were on penalties. I thought both sides of the ball complimented each other well.”
Cunningham has five touchdowns over his first two games this season. He spent his freshman year backing up Oklahoma running back Eric Gray, and is starting his third season as the Lynx’ featured tailback. He rushed for 1,331 yards and 12 touchdowns as a sophomore in 2020. Last year, he rushed for 497 yards and 12 touchdowns as the Lynx season was cut to six games because of COVID-19.
“First of all, he’s super smart. He barely ever busts in our pass protection or run game. He’s played a lot of football for us,” Locastro said. “He had to sit behind Eric Gray when he was young, but he learned a lot from Eric. He learned a lot schematically about what we do. Craig had a really good last year and he’s picked up where he left off. He’s added a few pounds and some muscle mass. He’s really hard to tackle.”
Cunningham said he doesn’t have any offers year, but has been talking to the Austin Peay and Harding University. Locastro said some Austin Peay coaches were also as the game.
“I saw Eddie George came out at halftime with one of his assistant coaches,” Locastro said. “And a couple guys form the Austin Peay Staff were there, too. Anytime these college coaches come out and evaluate our kids is a good night for the kids who want to compete at the next level. We are very appreciative of all the college guys who come out and recruit.”