Putnam County running back Tamarion Peters is primed to have a breakout senior campaign.
Last season, he mainly split carries with Cedrion Brundage, who rushed for over 1,000 yards. Peters still had an impressive junior year, rushing for 463 yards on 53 attempts with 10 touchdowns. He also averaged 8.7 yards per carry.
PCHS is coming off one of its most successful seasons in program history. The War Eagles went 12-1 overall en route to the GHSA Region 4-AA championship and a Class AA Elite Eight berth. They also matched the program’s total in 1996 for most wins in a single season.
Despite losing a ton of experienced talent to graduation, the War Eagles hope to carry that success into this season, too. The standard is set as they return several players at skill positions, with Peters a prime example. He intends to help Putnam County succeed in any way possible.
This year, Peters will be the featured tailback in the War Eagles’ offense, which returns several others, including a pair of sophomores in Rashod Daniel and Cory Foster.
“We strive to do better every day,” he said. “Some of our (team) goals include repeating as region champs. We also want to go farther in the playoffs this year. For me, I want to build the other people around me to be great.”
Putnam County head coach Shaun Pope has known Peters since he was in the eighth grade. He highlighted that he’s seen Peters “mature and grow” over the last five years.
“He’s bought in (over time). As a freshman, he was running high and was scared of the weight room,” Pope said. “That January of his freshman year is when he flipped the switch. He bought into the weight room. You could look at his body and tell that he was getting physically stronger. Since then, he’s developed and has become one of our leaders.”
Pope acknowledged that Peters is just “different” in the locker room and on the field.
“He leads by example and is very high-character,” Pope said. “Now, if you hear him laughing and cutting up sometimes, he’s the ringleader of that, too. He also knows when to tone it back down and get it under control. He’s definitely a ‘life-of-the-party’ type of guy. He’s fun to be around and is very energetic.”
Peters not only sets the bar high for his teammates but for himself as well. He’s spent the entire offseason in the weight room trying to get bigger and his ‘high-character’ mentality has influenced his teammates to join him.
At 5-foot-10 and 225-pounds, Peters is a hybrid-type running back. He can cut up the field and make people miss. Peters can also run over or through a defender.
Pope compared him to former Pittsburg Steelers running back Jerome Bettis. High praise, indeed.
“He can do it all. He’s an athletic, big guy. He moves well and is really slippery,” Pope said.
“When you look at him, you think he’s a big, old, barrel-and-bruising type running back. He’s 225 pounds. I think he used to struggle with running behind his pads, although he’s gotten so much better with it. If he wants to succeed at the college level, he needs to continue to do that.”
Peters currently doesn’t have any scholarship offers; however, he’s hoping to continue his career on the gridiron at the collegiate level. So, this season, he wants to keep grinding, and in return, see his hard work pay off in the long run.
Peters explained he’s looking forward to getting an education at the next level as well.
“I want to major in technology engineering,” he said. “My grades are important and football is going to end someday, so I need a backup plan in place.”
The War Eagles had several players sign college scholarships on National Signing Day in February. Those accomplishments reflected the hard work the PCHS coaching staff has put in over the last few years.
They intend to send more players to compete at the college level at the end of this season.
Peters explained he hopes to mimic what his former teammates have already accomplished.
“That makes me want to work harder after seeing them succeed,” Peters said. “Hopefully, as a team, we can follow in their footsteps and get more guys signed.”
Peters is an Eatonton native and started playing football at the Putnam County Rec Department at seven years old. Now, he enters his senior year at PCHS as one of the War Eagles’ leaders on the gridiron.
Peters stated it’s bittersweet, but he’s going to relish every moment this fall, his last as a high school football player.
“I am going to miss coming out here and getting better,” he said. "I’m also going to miss all the coaches who help me and my teammates get better.”
For Peters, it’s all about ‘flying under the radar’ and ‘exceeding expectations.’