Millbrook football’s under-the-radar backfield star thriving: ‘It’s my natural habitat’

The NCAA’s relatively new transfer portal rules remain a hot topic in college football. Athletes with immediate eligibility joining an established roster may or may not turn out to be good for locker room chemistry.

At the high school level, though, transfers and immediate eligibility are an old story.

Millbrook High was confronted with the dynamic at the start of this season when junior running back Brilison McCullers arrived from Sanderson High. But McCullers quickly assuaged concerns.

“He came in here and just worked and worked and worked,” said Millbrook senior kicker Angel Gomez.

Gomez, known for his own work ethic, is one of those mature kids with a pulse on the student body as well as the locker room. He was crowned Millbrook’s homecoming king last week.

“He (McCullers) has been our John Alacorn,” said Gomez, providing a ringing running back compliment among Wildcats.

A year ago, Alacorn was a senior who rushed for 939 yards and 13 touchdowns to help Millbrook to a 9-3 season.

“I knew about their tradition, and I knew they have a lot of good players,” McCullers said. “I knew I had to work to earn a spot just like everybody else.”

‘It’s a mentality thing’

Millbrook improved to 7-1 overall and 2-1 in the Northern Conference’s with last week’s 25-0 win over Wakefield. McCullers ran for 145 yards and one touchdown. In seven games, the 5-foot-9, 195-pounder has totaled 710 with seven touchdowns. He averages 6.1 per carry and 101.4 per game.

He’s within range of a third 1,000-yard season after topping the century mark as a 14-year-old freshman at Sanderson and again as a sophomore.

“When I was 14 playing against 17- and 18-year-olds, I had the jitters at first,” admits McCullers, whose first name is pronounced BRY-la-son. “But after the first hit, I was OK. Football is football. I love football.”

But truth be told, McCullers didn’t require a mindset adjustment to earn his new teammates’ trust. He understands success requires more than talent.

“You’re always going to meet guys with talent who also are work hard,” McCullers said. “They want to be great just like you. You have to maintain the mentality to go out there and work hard. It’s a mentality thing.”

‘My natural habitat’

One game observing McCullers’ style with lower body strength demonstrates he was born to play running back.

“He has the ideal build,” Millbrook coach Laymarr Marshall said. “He’s very solid and runs with great pad level. He does a good job of keeping his legs moving through contact. He’s excellent with ball security. One of the things about a running back is he has to be trustworthy. When you give him the ball, you know you’ll still have the ball at the end of the play.”

McCullers also plays with intangibles.

“He can make people miss, and he can make them miss in small spaces,” Marshall added.

McCullers says he doesn’t know how to explain his vision other than: “I see the hole and I hit it hard before it closes. I’ve been playing football since I was young. It’s my natural habitat.”

‘We want to win a championship’

But for all his production and potential, McCullers hasn’t yet raised much attention on the recruiting trail.

“It doesn’t really bother me,” he said. “I’ll keep focused on the classroom and working hard. I know I’ll eventually get looked at.”

Marshall has been guiding athletes through recruiting game long enough that he isn’t concerned, either.

“I think it’s fair to call him a sleeper, but he is on the radar of quite a few colleges,” Marshall said. “He’s not a kid in all the headlines but that will take care of itself. He’s been productive on the field, has prototypical size and has a versatile skill set.”

Millbrook’s shutout win over Wakefield was a bounce back from losing in conference play to No. 5-ranked Rolesville, 35-0. The Wildcats have two regular-season games remaining before the postseason. They play their final home game at 7 p.m. Friday against Knightdale (1-7, 0-3 Northern) before finishing the regular season November 1 at Wake Forest (4-4, 3-0 Northern).

“We want to learn from our loss,” McCullers said. “We don’t want that feeling we had. We bounced back and played hard against Wakefield. We know we have to play hard to beat good teams. We want to win a championship. We don’t want to get eliminated.”

This story was originally published October 24, 2024 at 5:00 AM.