Colorado State will soon have the distinction of sporting two former Dade County leading rushers on its 2006 roster. CSU gained a commitment this week from Miami Columbus High School running back John Mosure (5'10"/200 lb), who led Dade County in rushing this past season with 1,534 yards and 22 touchdowns and was selected as first-team All-Dade County.

Miami's Columbus H.S. RB John Mosure

Soon to be redshirt sophomore Gartrell Johnson III also led Dade County his senior year at Miami Springs High School, gaining 1,639 yards with 12 touchdowns. CSU has had success plucking talented running backs from Miami in recent years, with the first being Cecil Sapp, who earned first-team all-conference and all-state honorable mention honors as a senior at Miami's Palmetto High School in 1998 and has since gone on to an NFL career with the Denver Broncos.

Mosure transferred to Columbus High, a private school in Class 6A, following his junior year at Palmetto High where he rushed for a quiet 730 yards and eight touchdowns as a junior--perhaps one of the reasons he wasn't more widely recruited. Columbus was 10-1 this past season in what was considered one of the toughest schedules in South Florida, and fell to South Dade in the playoffs.

According to his coach, Chris Merritt, Mosure had taken a visit to Rutgers, and had another scheduled with Michigan State, but decided to commit to CSU after his visit last weekend. He was also being recruited by Northwestern and Marshall, as well as the University of Miami, who looked strongly at Mosure but never made an offer. The Rams were likely aided in acquiring Mosure's services thanks to a family connection. Mosure's father, Steve, is a former high school coach in Dade County and has known Sonny Lubick dating back to his days as the Miami Hurricanes defensive coordinator. Mosure is expected to bring a blend of power and decent speed to CSU.

"He traditionally fits the kind of running back they've had at CSU," Merritt said.

Locals compared his running style to that of Tampa Bay bruiser Mike Alstott, and at CSU, we'll likely hear comparisons to Kevin McDougal or Kyle Bell.

"John is a throw-back player," Merritt said. "He would rather go through you than around you."

Merritt says that Mosure runs about a 4.5 forty and was the fastest player on the team. Several of his 22 touchdowns were over 50 yards. With his physical running style, however, the team relied on him to take over late in games, and Merritt told a local paper following a win last season that the fourth quarter is "John Mosure Time", adding "He's in such good condition that he's able to take over games in the fourth quarter. Defensive backs hate having to try to tackle him because he runs so hard." As an added bonus, Mosure is considered a solid pass blocker.

Mosure was selected to play in the Dade-Broward High School All-Star game, but missed it to take his recruiting visit to CSU. Mosure is in good academic standing with a 3.76 GPA. His teammate, Antonio Lowery, an outside linebacker had a visit with CSU scheduled, but canceled it and committed to Rutgers instead.

Mosure's commitment brings the Rams' number of known verbals to 22.