HIGHLAND’S FRESH PRINCE IS READY TO LEAD THE HORNETS
Amiri, the name means Prince. There’s no doubt senior running back Amiri Mumba is the leader of the Highland offense. “There’s no secret, he’s the guy,” said Highland head coach Phillip Lovato. “He’s put on a lot of weight and strength and he’s going to lead this team to the promised land.”
He rushed for over 1,800 yards last season, which is impressive for someone who didn’t even take up the game until his freshman year. “I didn’t start playing organized football until high school,” Amiri explained. “Me and my middle school friends would go play during COVID. We would throw the ball around and he said, ‘You should come out for the team at the high school we’re going to. I said, ‘Ok’ and I tried out and ended up here.”
“I always wondered if he was going to play,” said his head coach. “A friend of his got him out here, his friend no longer plays but he stuck with it. Just watching the way he’s grown and the way he’s matured on the field, he’s a sponge, it’s been really impressive to watch him.”
“I’m more of a power back,” said Amiri. “I think I have a little speed behind me, as much as I bruise down the defense until they get tired.”
“He’s a tweener in the sense that he could be a great fullback, but he runs so well as a tailback,” Lovato said. “The thing about him is that when you get him to the sideline, there’s not a corner that’s going to take him down. He’s going to stiff arm him. To me, that’s the X factor.”
Amiri is 5’10”, 205 pounds (and slowly going up, according to him). He also competes in powerlifting and wrestling. “In wrestling, the mobility helps,” he said. “You feel more comfortable using your body. It’s also like the mindset of wrestling that you’re tired and you have to keep going. Powerlifting correlates because I’m building strength and I feel it when I’m running. I’m faster and stronger, when people come to tackle me I almost don’t feel it because of the strength I feel from powerlifting.”
Mumba is quick to credit the offensive line for his yardage and touchdown total. “It’s not like your traditional big old boys, but my line is fast and they’re smart,” said Mumba. “They’ll take the right angles, so they can block whoever I need them to block.”
“You can’t run over 1,800 yards and not have a decent line,” said Lovato. “Last year there wasn’t enough respect put on Amiri’s name or our offensive line and this year there’s a little attitude about that.”
Mumba ended the regular season last year with a 300-yard, 5 touchdown performance. His coach says Mumba could hold several school records before he’s done. “Highland has had some great running backs, we run the ball all the time, but it’s always been 2-3 running backs,” explained Lovato. “To have one solid guy to have that many yards, we’ve yet to find it (in the Highland record books). There’s not one guy we can find that had over 300 yards (in a game). As far as I’m concerned, and I’m an alum, he’s getting those records because he deserves it.”
Amiri Mumba and the Highland Hornets open the season August 23rd against Manzano.
