Phillip Verondre Barnes (born in Ocilla, Georgia

Ocilla, Georgia

Ocilla is a city in Irwin County, Georgia, United States. The population was 3,270 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Irwin County.Ocilla is part of the Fitzgerald Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 player. He played running back for Liberty University

Liberty University

Liberty University is a private Christian university located in Lynchburg, Virginia. Liberty's annual enrollment is around 72,000 students, 12,000 of whom are residential students and 60,000+ studying through Liberty University Online...

.

High school career

Barnes graduated from Irwin County High School as a four-year letterwinner. He finished his career as the school's all-time leading rusher with over 5,200 career yards. He also finished with 640 career receiving yards. He rushed for 1,609 yards on 223 carries during his senior season and for 1,649 yards on 230 carries as a junior. Barnes was named ICHS Most Valuable Running Back and Most Valuable Offensive Player as a senior, 2000 ICHS Big Player Maker of the Year and 2000 Region 2AA Offensive Player of the Year.

College career

2001 (Freshman - 566 yards, 5 TD, 80.9 ypg)

- Football Gazette Honorable-Mention All-American

- 1AA All-Independent Team - Second Team

- Flames' 2001 Offensive Team MVP

- Recorded the most rushing and total offensvie yards in school history by a freshman

- Averaged 6.4 yd. per carry = second highest individual average in school history

- Three 100-yard rushing performances as a true freshman

- Essentially missed four games as he suffered an ankle injury on the first play against UCF and missed the following three games

2002 (Sophomore - 1,304 yards, 5 TD, 118.5 ypg)

- Big South First Team All-Conference

- Football Gazette Honorable-Mention Preseason All-American

- Football Gazette Southeast Region - Second Team

- Rushed for then school-record 1,304 yards

- Finished fourth in the nation in rushing yards per game (118.5)

- Recorded the sixth most rushing attempts in school history

- Set a new school record with seven 100-yard rushing performances

- Three-time Big South Offensive Player of the Week

2003 (Junior - 1,347 yards, 7 TD, 111.2 ypg)

- Big South Preseason Offensive Player of the Year

- Big South Offensive Player of the Year

- Big South First-Team All-State

- Set a new school record with 1,347 yards rushing

- Finished 15th in the nation in total rushing yards

- Recorded four 100-yard rushing performance, bringing his career 100-yard games to 15 - two behind the school record

- Finished the season ranked second on Liberty's all time rushing list with 3,305 career yards and needed just 406 yards to become the school's all-time leader

2004 (Senior - Injured part way through the season)

RUSHING	GP	Att	Gain	Loss	Net	Avg	TD	Long	Avg/G
Samkon Gado Samkon Gado Samkon Kaltho Gado is an Nigerian-American running back of American football who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He played college football at Liberty....	9	138	953	52	901	6.5	11	79	100.1
Dre Barnes	6	113	776	18	758	6.7	3	32	126.3
Eugene Goodman	5	113	637	28	609	5.4	3	36	121.8