Super 11: Middleburg's Mike Mitchell keeps running past expectations for rising Broncos
Last fall, Mike Mitchell had never before entered a season as a starting running back — and hadn't even taken a handoff at Middleburg.
So maybe it's no surprise that his expectations for his first Broncos season ended a bit off the mark.
"I wasn't even going for 1,000 [yards], actually," he said. "I was going for 800. But when I hit 1,000, I wanted more."
After a junior year that surprised even himself, the running back is making history in Clay County, representing Middleburg on the Times-Union's annual Super 11 for high school football.
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Mitchell rumbled for 1,378 yards and 18 touchdowns during a stunning junior season at Alan Powers Field, leaving his own target in the dust by Oct. 1. If not for an injury that cut short his season after eight games, forcing him to miss the final stretch against Ridgeview and Yulee, Mitchell likely would have surpassed 1,500 yards and beyond.
On a program that's seen more struggles than highlights over the past generation — Middleburg has topped the .500 mark only once (2003) in the past quarter-century — he's helped to breathe new life into Broncos football.
Middleburg's last Super 11 selection goes back more than three decades to Alan Hall, among the most coveted quarterback prospects in Northeast Florida history. Hall was selected to the Super 11 in both 1989 and 1990 (until the mid-1990s, the Times-Union's annual list was not specifically limited to seniors).
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A year ago, few could have envisioned Mitchell as a future Super 11 pick.
He spent his first two years at Oakleaf, where he mostly waited on the bench behind a 1,000-yard rusher in the Knights' Adrian Grey — he still describes Grey, now entering his sophomore year at Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens, as an inspiration for his gridiron career.
"I knew him since I was little," Mitchell said. "He was a good running back, and I was like, 'I want to be like Adrian, so by the time I get to high school, I can do the same things that he can.'"
Entering his junior year, Mitchell had gained a grand total of 174 rushing yards in two years at Oakleaf. So his breakthrough 2021 at Middleburg registered an even bigger shock.
His performance helped Middleburg achieve a rapid turnaround from a winless 2020, finishing 5-5 and spending much of the season close to the playoff chase.
He can run with the best of them, too. In track and field, Mitchell won the Clay County Championships in the 100-meter dash, an event in which he holds a personal-best time of 10.81 seconds, and placed fifth in the 110 hurdles.
He's planning to play college football at another school that wears red and white, this one a long way from the First Coast. Mitchell committed in June to play college football at Utah.
From joining an 0-10 team to a future in the Pac-12 — and Mitchell may not be done beating football expectations.
"From everything they told me, the coach loves me, talks to me every day, and it's just the way they're going to develop me for the next level," he said.
Clayton Freeman covers high school sports and more for the Florida Times-Union. Follow him on Twitter at @CFreemanJAX.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: 2022 Times-Union Super 11: Mike Mitchell, Middleburg running back
