Junior adds prized offer after monster 249-yard, 4-TD OT performance
Orlando Edgewater junior running back Cedric “C.J.” Baxter already was a hot commodity among college football recruiters, but his popularity has grown exponentially in the past two weeks.
When Alabama comes to town, something must be going right.
The Crimson Tide’s interest in Baxter, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound prospect, took off after his performance in a four-overtime 52-49 victory over rival Jones High.
Baxter carried the ball 40 times for 249 yards and four touchdowns, and fought off cramps and other ailments during the game to carry his team to the victory.
That got the attention of Alabama coaches, who offered a scholarship to the former FSU commit Friday. Baxter, who decommitted from the Seminoles in April, said he was “shocked” by the offer.
“It means a lot for a program like that to offer me a scholarship,” Baxter said. “Especially because of how much they produce [NFL running backs] and everybody knows who Alabama is.”
Baxter was offered the scholarship in person by Alabama assistant head coach of offense/wide receivers Holmon Wiggins.
“Coach Wiggins came to the school and offered me, but right after that Coach G [Robert Gillespie], the running backs coach, called and said he wanted to offer me, too,” Baxter said. He has yet to talk to Alabama head coach Nick Saban.
His performance against Jones came against one of the top defenses in the state and was a rare accomplishment for any offensive player against the Tigers.
“When they told me I had that many carries, I really didn’t feel like it,” Baxter said. “I really felt like I had more like 30.”
His durability was something he had not shown previously, after dealing with injuries last season. Baxter was a two-way player at running back, linebacker and safety as head coach Cameron Duke tried to limit his offensive touches to offset the constant pounding at running back.
This year, Baxter is healthy, and his strength and stamina have been impressive. Despite painful cramps against Jones, he fought through and gave his team a huge lift.
“More people are starting to see what I can do,” said Baxter, who has 32 scholarship offers from Football Bowl Subdivision programs like Ohio State, Notre Dame and Texas, as well as all the big state schools Florida, FSU, Miami and UCF, among others.
Baxter opened the season strong in a rout of Bishop Moore. At one point, he had three straight touches that went for touchdowns. He showed his speed on each tote, busting out back-to-back scoring runs of 89 and 63 yards. His next touch came two series later when he took a punt 53 yards to the end zone.
In three games this season, during which Baxter only played the first half in two of the games, he has 62 carries for 563 yards and seven rushing touchdowns. He’s averaging 9.0 yards per carry with the one return touchdown and one receiving touchdown.
If Baxter decided to sign with Alabama during his senior year, he would get a chance to join former Edgewater teammate Christian Leary, who is a freshman at ’Bama
“It would be good. Actually, as soon as I got the offer, he called me,” Baxter said. “He said the coaching staff is always talking about me.”
Baxter was supposed to make the trip to Gainesville for this past Saturday’s Alabama-Florida game but changed his mind. He did, however, watch the game on TV and commented at halftime via phone call.
“Alabama’s not playing their best football, but they’re getting it done,” Baxter said.
