Rolling Hills Gets Gift From Texas : Preps: Two weeks before Rolling Hills played its first game, Robert Coulter asked for a tryout. Two months later, he’s the South Bay’s leading rusher with l,102 yards in six games.

In all his years of coaching high school football, Gary Kimbrell has never received a gift quite like the one that arrived at Rolling Hills in August.

That’s when Robert Coulter, a junior from Paris, Tex., unexpectedly showed up and asked for a tryout two weeks before the Titans’ first game.

“We stuck him right in there, on the scout offensive team running against the first-team defense,” Kimbrell said. “We wanted to find out what kind of talent he had.”

And?

“No one said much, but we knew.”

Kimbrell knew he had found another running back. Two months later, Coulter has proved to be that and much more.

The 5-foot-11, 178-pound transfer not only leads Rolling Hills in rushing, but the entire South Bay. He has gained 1,102 yards on 119 carries, nearly a first down-per-carry average of 9.26 yards, and he has surpassed 100 yards in all but one of the Titans’ six games.

Coulter enjoyed his finest outing last Friday in a 44-8 Bay League victory over Inglewood by rushing for 283 yards on 36 carries, marking the third time in the last four games he has gone over the 200-yard mark. He also scored five touchdowns to raise his season total to 12.

No longer are teams asking, “Who is that guy?” Now the question is, “How do we stop that guy?”

Hawthorne, boasting one of the area’s top defenses, draws the assignment of trying to shut down Coulter and Rolling Hills’ explosive option attack at 7:30 Friday night in a key Bay League game at Hawthorne. The Titans (4-1-1 overall, 1-1-1 in league play) trail first-place Hawthorne (6-0, 3-0) by a 1 1/2 games.

So far, teams have had little success slowing down the transplanted Texan, whose slashing, cut-back style of running has become his trademark.

Two weeks ago, Coulter gained 252 yards on 17 carries in a 16-16 tie with Leuzinger. The Olympians rarely give up that many total yards in a game.

“There are not a whole lot of guys who get that kind of yardage against us,” Leuzinger Coach Steve Carnes said. Coulter “ran well. When he’s out in the open, he’s very tough. I was impressed with him.”

Coulter didn’t think it would be this easy. Although he was a starting wide receiver as a sophomore last year for North Lamar High in Paris, Tex., Coulter expected the caliber of football to be much higher in California.

“I figured it would be really tough for me to play,” he said. “I thought it would be the hardest thing in the world.”

However, once Coulter demonstrated his determination and began breaking off long runs in practice, Kimbrell knew there was a place for his newest player.

“He really has been a tremendous asset to our team,” he said. “We knew he was talented in our first scrimmage. He proved himself and gained people’s respect right away.”

Although he didn’t start, Coulter gained 103 yards on 13 carries and scored two touchdowns in the Titans’ 35-10 season-opening win over Redondo. The next week he gained 171 yards on 18 carries and scored two TDs in a 26-14 win over Mira Costa. In the third game, he finally earned a starting spot and responded with a 203-yard, two-touchdown effort in a 36-0 win over North Torrance.

Kimbrell, who coached several All-CIF running backs during a 10-year stint at Miraleste, rates Coulter the best in terms of raw ability.

“He’s definitely the most talented back I’ve coached,” he said. “We had some good backs (at Miraleste) like Mike Silane, Chris Ridout and Andrew Dunn. But Robert definitely is the most talented.”

Coulter was set to be the starting quarterback for North Lamar High School when his stepfather, Lance Anderson, decided to move his jewelry business and family to Southern California this summer.

Moving from rural Texas to the Los Angeles area has taken some getting used to, Coulter said.

“In Texas, it’s like the country,” he said. “There are a lot of cowboys. It’s really different here. But people are basically the same wherever you go. You’ve got the good ones and the bad ones.

“Everything has been going pretty well. People are starting to get to know me. At first, I was just by myself. It was tough.”

Kimbrell says Coulter has been a model player.

“He’s well-liked by everybody,” he said. “He’s a very hard worker on the football field. And it helps to have him in practice. He gives our defense a chance to look at someone who can move and run. He gives our defense a little preview of some of the quick backs we face in the Bay League.”

The week before Rolling Hills met Leuzinger, Coulter played quarterback in practice so he could simulate the moves of Olympian quarterback Zac Odom, a dangerous runner. It was during one of these practice sessions that starting quarterback Bill DeMucci, who was playing running back, suffered a sprained ankle.

That forced Kimbrell to put backup tailback Greg Schwartz at quarterback, a move that has paid dividends in the Titans’ last two games. With Schwartz, the team’s fastest player, calling signals and Coulter playing tailback, Rolling Hills now possesses two breakaway threats.

“It makes us a better football team,” said Kimbrell, who intends to keep Schwartz at quarterback even though DeMucci has recovered from his injury.

The coach considered Coulter too valuable to move to quarterback, although he has proved capable of playing the position in practice.

“To have a good option attack,” Kimbrell said, “you have to have someone you can pitch the ball to.”

Coulter, who can play any of the three positions in Rolling Hills’ option backfield (quarterback, fullback or tailback), says wherever Kimbrell decides to put him is fine.

“As long as I’m playing back where the ball is, I’m all right.”