Khris Francis impresses in ?rst outing at Kenan Stadium

In about two weeks, Durham’s Hillside High School will put on its annual prom.

With such a short time until one of the biggest moments in a high school student’s career, Khris Francis should be in the middle of tux-hunting and corsage-ordering.

But instead of joining his Hillside friends in prom preparations, Francis was busy on the field at Kenan Stadium Saturday afternoon.

Francis, an early enrollee, took the field with the rookie-laden White team in North Carolina’s annual Spring Football Game.

Though he wasn’t working out with the first-string squad, Francis still attracted plenty of attention during his time on the field, beginning with a 24-yard carry on the second play of the game.

“It set a tone for the White team, considering we started the game on offense,” Francis said. “It really energized everybody, especially when we just make a big play — period.”

After carrying the ball for no gain on the first play of the game, Francis again got the handoff from back-up quarterback and fellow freshman Mitch Trubisky, broke free from the defense and sprinted down the field before eventually being tackled.

The freshman tailback rushed for a game-high 101 yards on 20 carries in the White team’s 34-10 defeat at the hands of the Blue team.

Francis is only a few months removed from a high school career where he ran the ball 251 times for 2,100 yards and 27 touchdowns in his senior season.

Transitioning from high school football to Fedora’s up-tempo style hasn’t been an easy process for Francis.

Though he’s still been able to find holes in the defense, the rigorous offense has often left Francis short of breath.

But luckily for Francis, he’ll likely be splitting time with two veteran running backs, A.J. Blue and Romar Morris.

“I noticed that after a couple of plays of running, I’m sucking for wind,” Francis said. “Like they said, we’re going to need all of us to get through this season because of how fast tempo we are.”

Though Francis didn’t score a touchdown in the game, he nearly rushed for more yards than Blue team running backs Blue and Morris combined.

Both scored second-quarter touchdowns for the Blue team for the first two touchdowns of the Spring Game.

Since Francis arrived at UNC in January, Blue and Morris have assumed the responsibility of helping him transition to college football.

“I’ve just been there to coach him and teach him to have short-term memory and forget about those fumbles, because it’s going to happen,” Blue said.

While coach Larry Fedora might have entered the spring season unsure of the solution to filling a Giovani Bernard-sized hole in his backfield, he may have found at least part of the solution in a player who, in a few weeks, will likely still put on a tux and attend his senior prom.

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.