Tony Ashmore will be the first to tell you: his job can be quite easy at times.
Ashmore — the Byrnes running backs coach — has one of the most talented running back rooms in the state.
“I always say that the guys in my RB room make my job easy,” said Ashmore. “They’ve picked up on everything I’ve coached them to do the last two years. All I’ve got to do every now and then is a little tweak here and there, and we’re ready to roll.”
Spearheading the Rebels’ dominant rushing attack? Two juniors — both likely future Division I backs — in Tre Segarra and Jacobi Fuller.
But don’t feel obligated to call them by their full names.
Call them… well… how about they just tell you themselves?
“I’m Sonic,” said Segarra.
“And I’m Knuckles,” said Fuller.
Having a running back who holds multiple Division I college offers is rare at the high-school level. Having two? That’s downright unheard of, but it’s exactly what the Rebels have in Segarra and Fuller.
The best part for Byrnes? Segarra and Fuller complement each other masterfully on the field.
“What each of us brings to the table is huge,” said Segarra. “It’s hard for teams to prepare for guys with two completely different run styles. It gives us a big advantage in the run game, makes it easier for our offensive line to block for us, and it helps us both with our longevity, too.”
“Whichever one of us is on the field, or when both of us are on the field together, it gives defenses a lot to worry about,” said Fuller. “We have a lot of options for what we can do.”
Segarra’s the hard-nosed runner, reeling off tough yards and bouncing off of tackles left and right, finding the gaps in the box.
Fuller’s the speedster. A track star in the offseason — having been clocked at a sub-4.4 40 — when Fuller gets into open space and breaks contain, good luck catching him.
Like perfectly-matched pieces to a backfield puzzle, the pair fill in the gaps within the other’s skillsets.
Fuller is speed. Segarra is power.
Sonic and Knuckles.
“I told them one day that with the way they both run, they remind me of [Detroit Lions RBs] Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery,” said Ashmore. “Jacobi is Gibbs — the fast and elusive one like Sonic. Tre is Montgomery, the one who’s going to run hard and beat you between the tackles with strength, like Knuckles.”
“Me, Tre, and Coach Ashmore, we watched some highlights of Gibbs and Montgomery for the Lions a lot before this season,” said Fuller. “Coach gave us that name, and it stuck.”
Much like Gibbs’s speed and Montgomery’s power running style for the Detroit Lions — the backfield duo who popularized the ‘Sonic and Knuckles’ nickname — Segarra and Fuller have completely embraced the title.
GOT YOUR BACK (PACK)
When David Segarra II — Tre’s father — saw an Amazon package arrive at the door over the summer with his son’s name on it, he was a bit confused.
“I had no idea what he could’ve ordered,” said David. “He doesn’t get many Amazon packages at our door.”
Turns out, it was a backpack. School was starting back soon, and Segarra had taken it into his own hands to order a backpack online. This year’s bookbag was a little different, however.
“I saw that [Jacobi] had bought a Sonic backpack for school,” said Segarra. “So I had the idea, I wanted to order myself a Knuckles backpack so we could both wear ours to school. I ended up accidentally buying one that didn’t quite match the style Jacobi had, but then he bought a different Sonic backpack to match mine.”
“I had seen them on Amazon,” said Fuller. “I had actually had a Sonic the Hedgehog backpack since I was a kid, but then I sent Tre a Knuckles one and told him we should each get one and wear it for the school year. So we did.”
But for ‘Sonic and Knuckles’, matching backpacks in the hallways of Byrnes is just the start.
The way they show solidarity with one another on the field speaks even louder.
LIFTING HIM UP
Despite Byrnes’ 49-9 win over Greer on Sept. 12, Fuller was not having the best game of his life that Friday night.
He’d fumbled inside the red zone in the second quarter of the game, and by the time the second half rolled around, he had yet to find the end zone. While Fuller still kept his head up, Segarra noticed his backfield partner wrestling with his mistake on the sidelines.
Segarra took matters into his own hands to boost Fuller’s confidence.
As Segarra broke off a 45-yard scamper untouched toward the end zone, he pulled up at the Greer 1-yard line. Instead of crossing the plane, Segarra purposefully ran out of bounds. He immediately ran off the field and onto the sidelines, yelling “Jacobi” as loud as he could.
He wanted Fuller to get his first touchdown of the game. That’s exactly what Fuller did, carrying in himself two plays later.
“I told Tre when he came to the sidelines that I had never seen that before. I had tears in my eyes, I really did,” said Ashmore. “I’d never seen somebody care that deeply for their teammate in that manner.”
“Jacobi means a lot to me,” said Segarra. “And I’m at my best when he’s at his best. When he’s down, it’s my job to lift him up.”
Safe to say Segarra was successful. Fuller was blown away by the gesture and immensely appreciative.
“That meant a lot to me. That really picked my mood up,” said Fuller. “That fumble was the first fumble I had since I’d been playing varsity football. So that helped me a lot.”
Believe it or not, that was the second time Tre had made that gesture for Fuller.
You’d just have to go way back to Florence Chapel Middle School football to find the first.
“When Tre and I both played at Florence Chapel, he actually stepped out at the 1-yard line for me once back then, too,” said Fuller. “I was coming back from a sprained ankle, and Tre wanted me to get a touchdown in my game back from injury, so he did that same thing.”
If Byrnes is to make a run at a coveted 12th state title this season, it will need both Segarra and Fuller — both Sonic and Knuckles — playing their vital parts.
That’s exactly what they plan to do. And they don’t care who gets the glory.
“We put the team over ‘me.’ Both Tre and I realize that our success as a team is more important than either of our stats,” said Fuller. “So we know going into each game, we’re going to ride the hot hand. Whoever’s having a night, we both want the other to keep having a night.
“Tre and I are close. We complement each other in what we do. It’s never selfish. We both know our job is to run our style, and to always keep the other lifted up.”
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