Like most sports, football is constantly evolving. Where most teams used to deploy one featured running back now they split the workload between multiple players.
That’s the case with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team which boasts a pair of veteran playmakers in their offensive backfield.
“In this league, it’s pretty tough to have one running back get 25 carries a game. Usually when they do that, they only play two or three and then they have to sit a game,” said head coach Brian Towriss.
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Fifth-year Jarvis James and third-year Tyler Chow are the Dogs dynamic duo. Together the running backs combined to rush for 857 yards and six touchdowns in 2015.
“They both have their strength and both have been proven in this league so we want to get them 10 to 15 touches a game each and they’ll be happy sharing the load,” Towriss said.
While Chow is the work horse of the pair, logging twice as many carries last season, both have a game-breaking ability which allows Towriss to spread the ball around.
“We’re constantly at each other competing and … it makes football fun,” Chow said.
On some teams, such an arrangement might lead to conflict. But for these two Calgary products, team success is more important than individual accolades.
“Everybody’s so talented that we just go in there and play the best to your ability and everybody will get a little touch on the ball,” James said.
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That unselfish attitude isn’t the only example James has set for his running mate.
“Jarvis has taught me a lot in terms of being the guy that’s not necessarily a big voice but just being the guy that leads through actions and applies it,” Chow said.
Now, the dynamic duo will do all they can to help lead Saskatchewan to a Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) championship.
The Huskies’ first game of the regular season is against the University of Regina Rams on Sept. 2 at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon.
Ryan Flaherty contributed to this story
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