Camarillo High School (Calif.) football coach Jack Willard was bummed that Westlake (Calif.) Oaks Christian four-star running back Zach Charbonnet was on the opposite sideline when his team faced off against Oaks Christian High School last fall.

Charbonnet was initially expected to play for Willard’s squad before ending up with the Lions, who beat Willard’s Scorpions 23-21 on Oct. 20, 2017.

It’s easy to understand why Willard — or any coach — would want Charbonnet on their team. He torched Camarillo for 208 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 21 carries, and finished the 2017 season with 2,049 yards and 23 scores.

Last weekend, Charbonnet committed to Michigan, giving the program the top-tier running back it had been searching for.

“He’s a phenomenal athlete,” Willard said. “He’s a big kid, has gotten bigger each year. He was a good size freshman, but being in the weight room, he’s continued to get bigger and develop without losing any speed or quickness.

“He’s a superior talent. He was going to be very difficult to deal with.”

Willard coached against him twice, losing both times.

“He’s a guy we’d all like to have on our team.”

During last year’s meeting, Willard hopes to shut down Charbonnet by sticking more guys in the box. His team was smaller than Charbonnet’s and figured they might have an advantage with the Lions’ starting quarterback out for the game.

However, it wasn’t enough. Charbonnet broke a 42-yard run in the fourth quarter that helped set up the game winning field goal.

“We needed to try to do something to penetrate the line of scrimmage, do something to get him before he got going, because if he clears that first level and you get him in space, it’s just going to be really difficult to get him down one-on-one,” Willard said.

Overall, he thought his guys did a pretty solid job defending the run, but when you’re facing the player he called the best running back in the region in recent memory, he knew it’d be a challenge.

“He’s strong, he’s fast, he’s quick, he’s got all that stuff,” Willard said. “I think for me, the thing that stands out most about him is that he’s an effort guy. A lot of times, you get superior athletes in high school and they can get away with just being a superior athlete and take a play off here or there. That’s not him.

“I think that will make him fit right in at Michigan.”

U-M's 2019 recruiting class currently sits at No. 8 nationally, trailing Alabama, Texas A&M, Oregon, Clemson, LSU, Ole Miss and Oklahoma.

Charbonnet also plays defense for Oaks Christian. During his first two years, he played cornerback. This past season, he moved to outside linebacker.

Willard added that believes he could even play defense in college, he’s that good.

“His effort on the football team, playing both ways, any game that was close for them, he was on the field all the time,” Willard said. “Offense or defense. He’s an exceptional football player, not just a great running back.”

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