Sports

Terra Nova's Murray Now Putting Smarts to Good Use

Senior learns from earlier academic ineligibility, develops into solid student and impact linebacker.

A little over two years ago, Deryke Murray was crushed when he got the news. He was booted off Terra Nova High’s sophomore football team after being ruled academically ineligible.

Football was what Murray lived for, and suddenly he had it stripped away.

Fortunately for both Murray and the Terra Nova program, the then-sophomore quickly decided to use his unfortunate episode as a wake-up call.

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He took full ownership of the academic struggles he attributed to indifference: he began to apply himself to his studies and he has developed into a fine student.

Murray’s smarts are also a critical part of the Tigers’ success on the football field. The senior inside linebacker will be making all the on-field calls to align and adjust the defense when Terra Nova takes aim at its third straight Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division title against co-leader Menlo-Atherton on Friday night.

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“He’s a very intelligent young man,” head coach Bill Gray said of Murray, who was reinstated in time to make the varsity as a junior. “He essentially is the quarterback of our defense.”

The 6-foot, 195-pound Murray was named a captain this year. He leads the 6-2 Tigers with 14.3 tackles per game as well as two forced fumbles this season. And he relishes his role at the forefront of the defense.

“If I don’t make sure we’re in the right defense, we can get beat, so it’s on me. I like to have the responsibility that I can beat the (opposing team’s) offense,” Murray said. “I have to put our players in a position to beat them.”

Gray lauded Murray’s ability to see a play developing without falling into the trap of watching the ball – a process he called “eye location and eye progression.”

“He’s one of the best I’ve ever coached at it,” Gray said. “He’s so smart.”

With Terra Nova one win away from a three-peat in the tough PAL Bay and a team that seems fully capable of advancing to the Central Coast Section Division III title game for the third year in a row, Murray is thrilled he’s getting to play a major role during a golden era of the program. And he appreciates it that much more because he knows what it’s like to be without football.

“That just devastated me, not being able to play. I know I’m smarter than that,” Murray said of his academic ineligibility. “I took it away from myself by not performing in the classroom. … That’s what really changed me – I wanted to play football so bad that I really had to do better.”

Murray realizes the benefits of dedicating himself to his schoolwork go well beyond his ability to play the sport he loves

“I feel better about myself. Before, I knew I could do it but I wasn’t showing myself I could do it,” said Murray, who said he’ll have “above a 3.0” GPA when a six-week grading period ends Friday. “I know how to get ready and prepare myself.”

Those skills will come in increasingly handy as Murray gets set for a future that he said won’t involve football. He doesn’t expect to play when he heads to a junior college next year. Instead, his plans are focused on academics.

“My big thing is about being an engineer,” Murray said. He’s interested in eventually attending Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, and he’s eying architectural and mechanical engineering.

Meanwhile, Gray points to overseeing Murray’s personal growth as an example of one of the most satisfying parts of his job.

“It’s as rewarding as winning games, because in a sense it truly is more important than winning games,” the coach said.

“He’s come to a point now … he has all A’s and B’s, he’ll probably be on the honor roll, and he’s a team captain,” Gray said. “And kids are named captain in our program because he does all of it the right way.”

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