Ypsilanti High School senior running back Austin Sanders led Washtenaw County in rushing yards last year despite basically being a track star who played football during his off-season.

By moving football training to the top of his priority list this past summer, Ypsilanti head coach Jason Malloy believes Sanders has taken a step toward separating himself as a truly elite back in the area.

“He has all the skills and tools, he’s just needs to put it all together,” Malloy said. “He has shown this off-season -- and so far in two-a-days -- that he can do that.”

With a 40-yard dash time of 4.5 seconds and the third-fastest 100 meters at last year’s Division 1 state championships, Sanders’ margin of error is greater than most on the field. He rushed for a county-best 928 yards and 11 touchdowns last season, but Malloy believes the best is yet to come.

“He has always been able to be a good player, but this offseason we spoke about working on the little things to become one of the best players in the area. The best player he could be,” Malloy said.

Sanders (5-foot-7, 175) said he’s gained about 10 pounds since the beginning of last year and feels stronger and more confident after spending the summer in the weight room and at football camps. In past years -- when he was competing on the AAU track circuit in addition to training for football -- he said it was difficult to excel at either.

“When you're trying to do both, they conflict and it’s hard to get better,” Sanders said. “I just decided this summer to dedicate myself to football.”

SENIOR RUSH

Sanders is joined by Pioneer's Drake Johnson (850 yards, 10 TDs), Huron's Luke Denson (737, 5) and Willow Run's Nyshaun Marks (483, 3) as returning seniors that led their team’s in rushing last season. (See 2010 statistical leaders.)

Look for Denson and Marks to be featured backs in their respective offenses, mostly running north and south, but expect the unexpected when it comes to Johnson. Last season, Johnson caught 18 passes for 357 yards and four touchdowns and also scored via interception and punt return. He threw for a score, as well.

First-year Pioneer coach Paul Test called Johnson his team's best running back, punter, punt returner, kick returner and defensive back.

“We’re going to try and clone him,” Test joked.

AIR JORDAN

Skyline senior Jordan Woods (6-3, 180) was Washtenaw County’s leader in both receptions (65) and receiving yards (1,103) as a junior and has received scholarship offers from Purdue and Eastern Michigan.

Eagles first-year head coach Rod Jones -- a former NFL lineman -- loves nothing more than a solid rushing attack. But don’t expect Jones to under-utilize Woods, or any of the other Skyline receivers -- four of whom are over 6-2 -- for that matter.

“When you’re talking about those guys, you’re talking about the best receiving corps in the (Southeastern Conference),” Jones said. “To not use that would be a crime.”

QUARTERBACK CLUB

Manchester junior quarterback Nate Bossory narrowly edged Skyline senior quarterback Andrew Copp in passing yards (2,489 to 2,433) and touchdowns (24 to 23) last season to lead Washtenaw County in both categories. Of course, Bossory did have an extra game to amass such totals because Manchester made the playoffs.

NOT SO RARE FEAT

Returning a kickoff for a touchdown is a rare feat, unless you’re Lincoln’s Rare (pronounced: "rah-ray") Williams, who did exactly that three times last season.

Williams returned touchdowns of 90, 85 and 82 yards and averaged 29.9 yards in his junior season. Railsplitters coach Chris Westfall expects to utilize Williams more in the passing game this season.

“Rare has stepped into that number one receiver role very well,” Westfall said.

PAUZE FOR EFFECT

Though Father Gabriel Richard lost most of its offensive weapons to graduation, the Fighting Irish return their top two tacklers in Nick Pauze and Dallas Hartsell. The senior linebackers combined for 185 tackles while leading Gabriel Richard’s defense to a 12.7 points-against average.

“I think we have the opportunity to be one of the best defenses in school history,” Pauze said.

UNIFORM SWAP

Both Huron and Lincoln lost their top receivers -- not to graduation, but to transfers.

Lincoln’s Kendall Thompson caught 22 passes for 440 yards and two touchdowns last season while Huron’s Brent King had 31 receptions for 459 yards and four touchdowns. Both will play their senior seasons at Ypsilanti.

King was also Huron’s punter, with with a 39.7-yard average, and was voted the River Rats’ most valuable special teams player last year.

MORE TO COME

Come back Thursday for the rest of AnnArbor.com's high school football preview, which will include:

• A team-by-team glance at every school in Washtenaw County.
• A predictions column and interactive voting polls for Week 1 games.
• A preview of the seventh annual Big Day Prep Showdown at EMU's Rynearson Stadium, which includes local teams Skyline, Gabriel Richard, Chelsea and Manchester.

Pete Cunningham covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at petercunningham@annarbor.com or by phone at 734-623-2561. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.