CUMBERLAND — Every time Fort Hill High School’s Garrett Clay ran the football last fall, he gained an average of 13 yards. At least that’s what the numbers say. In watching the 6-foot, 180-pound senior fullback shred opposing defenses all season with his speed and toughness, helping the Sentinels to a 12-1 record and the Maryland 1A semifinals, it just seemed like more.

Following his junior season in which he was named Area Offensive Player of the Year, Clay followed up with an even bigger season, rushing for an area-best 1,931 yards on 149 carries and scoring an area-best 30 touchdowns to earn the 2011 Times-News Area Player of the Year Award, which he will receive Sunday, Jan. 29, at the Ali Ghan Shrine Club during the 64th annual Dapper Dan Awards Banquet.

Clay rushed for over 100 yards in 10 of the Sentinels’ 13 games, missing the century mark in the season opener by just two yards. He also had three games of rushing for more than 200 yards — 222 on 14 carries against Perryville Traditional, 289 yards on 15 carries against Mountain Ridge, and 238 on 29 carries in the West Region championship game against Boonsboro.

The first postseason accolade Clay received for a senior season magnificently done was a first-team berth on the Maryland Small Schools (Classes 2A-1A) All-State team.

“Garrett is a great football player, and he’s what you want a player to be,” said Fort Hill head coach Todd Appel, who will receive the Area Football Coach of the Year at Sunday’s Dapper Dan dinner. “He’s got a lot of God-given ability, but he enhances that 10-fold by working hard in the offseason, and during track.”

Clay also had 109 yards receiving and 93 yards on kickoffs to finish his senior season with 2,133 all-purpose yards. This following a junior season in which he rushed for an area-high 1,434 yards and 20 touchdowns to earn honorable mention All-State.

“He was the typical Fort Hill, grind-it-out fullback, who could also break any play for a touchdown,” said Appel. “He had a tremendous burst on the edge and was hard to tackle once he got in the open.

“Garrett’s a tough kid, too, with speed,” said Appel. “He can outrun players, but he’s not afraid of contact and he gets a lot of yards after contact.

“On the other side of the ball, he shows toughness too. He’s a big hitter on defense.”

Defensively, as the Fort Hill starting safety, Clay had 29 solo tackles, 13 assists, a fumble recovery and a team-high four interceptions.

Offensively, the biggest game of Clay’s career came in Fort Hill’s biggest game of the season up to that point, as the Sentinels won a battle of unbeatens in the snow of Frostburg, defeating Mountain Ridge, 41-0. In reaching 289 yards on just 15 carries, the Sentinel fullback scored on runs of 77, 44, 34 and eight yards.

The following week in the Homecoming Game against Allegany, Clay rushed for 155 yards on three touchdowns, one an 86-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to set a record for the longest run in Homecoming game history.

“Garrett’s just a good, tough South End kid,” Appel said. “He’s extremely competitive; you can see it in his body language, but that makes him successful. He’s just so highly competitive in everything. To be successful means a lot to him and he wants everybody on the same page.

“Garrett brings a high level of work ethic to the table and he leads by that example. Through hard work, Garrett has made himself a tremendous athlete. He manufactured all of it.”

For information concerning the 64th Dapper Dan Awards Banquet, call The Original Sports Shoppe at 301-722-5490.

Mike Burke is sports editor of the Cumberland Times-News. Write to him at mburke@times-news.com