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Former Dematha Football Standout Coker 'Just Starting Scratch Surface Of Potential'

DeMatha Catholic High School 2010 grad Marcus Coker is in the midst of his sophomore season as a running back for the University of Iowa's football team.

Iowa running back seemingly couldn’t be stopped.

Run after run, the yards continued to pile up. Showing off all the elements of his dynamic and diverse physical skill-set, the 6-foot-1, 230 pound Coker, just a freshman at the time, consistently ran over, around and past Missouri’s overmatched defense.

He racked up 219 rushing and two touchdowns while leading the Hawkeyes to a narrow 27-24 victory in last year’s Insight Bowl.

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Yet, even after having just turned in the top performance of his young college career, Coker, a 2010grad chose to reiterate that he still had room to improve and was just happy to have played a role in Iowa’s win.

Hawkeyes running backs coach Lester Erb said rather than getting complacent from the success his freshman season produced, Coker is as motivated and focused as ever, determined to continue improving while hoping for an even bigger sophomore season.

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Coker has rushed for 181 yards and two touchdowns in Iowa's first two games this year.

At DeMatha, Coker earned first-team All-State and first-team All-Conference honors as a senior in 2009 after receiving second-team accolades in both as a junior. He rushed for 2,985 yards and 40 touchdowns during those two seasons, including 1,698 yards and 23 scores as a senior.

With Iowa, however, Coker missed most of the first two months of his freshman year while rehabbing from a broken collarbone.

Once healthy, though, , and starting just four. He averaged 5.5 yards per carry as a freshman.

This year the stakes are stacked even higher.

“Marcus had a really good preseason, and has kind of built on what he did during the end of last season,” Erb said. “I just think the confidence he gained from the end of last year has really carried over into this season.”

Coker agreed.

“I gained a lot of confidence with the bowl game,” he told KCRG-TV9 in Iowa last week. “As the game [goes on], and gets into the fourth quarter, I get stronger.”

Erb said Coker is “just starting to scratch the surface of his potential.”

“He’s really a student of the game, and has a good understanding of the game, of our offense and even some of opposing defenses and what they’re trying to do to our offense,” Erb said.

“And when he carries the ball, he’s a big, physical back with very good vision and underrated speed.”

 

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