Wright making most of move to Mitchell

Coming home has proven to be a very good decision for Mitchell junior running back Aaron Wright.

No area back has been more productive over the past three weeks. Sandwiching a solid 141-yard effort against Coronado have been a pair of games that have produced Nintendo-like numbers. On Sept. 27, Wright ran for 318 yards in a win over Thomas Jefferson and then did even better in a loss to Woodland Park, romping for 372 yards.

That’s 831 yards in three games, or 277 yards per game. He also scored nine touchdowns over those three games and has had 12 of his 13 this season over the past four weeks.

Wright has rushed for 1,250 yards on 160 carries for the 2-5 Marauders. That breaks down to 7.8 yards per attempt and 178.6 yards per game.

“I think the thing that has clicked with Aaron is patience,” Mitchell coach Archie Malloy said. “We preach patience to the hole and speed through the hole. He’s taken that concept and he’s really internalized it.

“It’s one of those things where it came together for him. We had some great blocking up front, he got to the next level and then his speed and athleticism took over.”

But before that patience could materialize, Wright needed to come home. He went to Sabin Middle School like a lot of his Mitchell teammates, but for high school opted to join his older brother Dominique, who was a basketball star at Fountain-Fort Carson.

Removed from his support network, Aaron struggled.

“It wasn’t really the coaches, it was like how I was going in school,” he said. “I wasn’t getting my stuff done in school. I was in my own world.”

So when Dominique graduated, Aaron talked it over with his parents and chose to attend Mitchell for his sophomore season. He feels it’s one of the best decisions he’s ever made.

“I felt like it was a good school for me because I got along with the coaches — they seemed like they were really into what they were doing,” Aaron Wright said. “It turned into a good move for me.”

Having found home, Wright needed to find a position. As a sophomore, he was primarily a receiver and spent a little time at tailback in the Marauders’ power I. When a rash of injuries hit, however, he was shifted to quarterback as Mitchell went into a hybrid form of the old single wing.

“The neat thing about him is he still posed a threat because we could run all the same plays with him,” Malloy said. “He’s so competitive; he evolved into a pretty good passer.”

But this season, Wright has settled in at tailback and his outstanding production is witness that, having returned to his off-field home, he has also found it on the field.

His growth as a player and a student has been mirrored by his growth physically. Now 5-foot-11, 185 pounds, with a large frame, Malloy and Mitchell running backs coach Mike Vrana believe that Wright can play collegiately at a high level.

“There’s still probably another level he can get to and the harder he works the faster he’ll get there,” Vrana said. “He’s in the process right now of learning that.”