Gilman’s Darius Jennings is the type of athlete that a high school football program, even one as prestigious as Gilman’s, can only hope to see once in a generation. It was only eight years ago, however, that another mobile Greyhound quarterback electrified football fans throughout the area, setting numerous school, league and state offensive records.
Ambrose Wooden, along with defensive star Victor Abiamiri (now with the Philadelphia Eagles), had college recruiters from coast -to-coast camped out on Roland Avenue as they led the Greyhounds to a 10-0 season in 2002. Both eventually decided to play their college football at the University of Notre Dame.
Before Wooden left Baltimore, he made his mark as one of the most prolific quarterbacks in the city’s history, amassing a state record 7,261 total yards, while rushing for 46 touchdowns and passing for 30 more in his career.
Today, those rushing records belong to Jennings.
The shifty senior with world class speed, capped his high school career on Saturday with 185-yards rushing and two touchdowns during a 42-6 win over McDonogh, giving him 4,338 career rushing yards on 493 carries (8.8 per carry) and 53 touchdowns. Those numbers surpass Wooden’s totals of 4,033 rushing yards and 46 rushing touchdowns.
Jennings, who is being heavily recruited by numerous big time Division I schools, had 21 touchdowns this past season. He gained 1,569 yards rushing and he threw for 414 more, In addition to those numbers, Jennings amassed 220 yards on kickoff returns, and 11 on one punt return. He returned two kickoffs for touchdowns.
