Pulaski Robinson junior athlete T.J. Hammonds continued his outstanding play Friday night in the Senator’s 28-21 victory over Central Arkansas Christian.
In week one, Hammonds scored a rushing and receiving touchdown on 9 touches for 170 yards in a 31-14 victory over Bauxite. Numerous schools started showing interest because of the game.
Arkansas had previously known about Hammonds and hosted him during the Hogs’ spring game. But the Razorbacks took notice of his improvement from last year and tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr. made contact earlier in the week.
Auburn, Kansas State and Tulsa also reached out to Pulaski Robinson football Coach Todd Eskola. The Golden Hurricanes indicated an offer would be coming after a qualifying ACT score.
Unofficially, he had 6 carries for 115 yards and a touchdown along with 4 receptions for 110 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Mustangs while lining up at running back and at slot receiver.
Hammonds, 5-11, 196, 4.42 seconds in the 40 yard dash, had a good sophomore season with about 600 yards rushing and 6 touchdowns, but he’s taken his game to different level after an offseason with strength and conditioning coach Brian Maupin, who also coaches linebackers.
“We just trained hard, five o’clock in the morning to all the way to like three in the afternoon,” Hammonds said. “We just trained, trained, trained, trained. Took protein and everything. Got faster, went to a few camps this summer.”
Eskola said Hammonds' improvement has made Hammonds into a playmaker.
“Last year it was like he’s a pretty good sophomore, but he’s real raw,” Eskola said. “But now he’s been in the weight room six-eight months and he’s really worked hard on his speed and burst. He turned from the kid that might make plays and now to the kid that’s saying ‘give me the ball coach’.
Hammonds said the 72 yard yard run for a score was called “Pink Right” and the 67 touchdown reception was “Razorback Right”. The third touchdown went 20 yards on a bubble screen called “A-Hawaii”.
“I’m good at cutting, that’s what my coaches tell me,” said Hammonds in describing the last touchdown. “All I do is cut, cut and then I just went straight in. My coach told me don’t keep cutting all the time because you probably don’t get where you need to be. I cut twice and then I went in for the touchdown.”