Opelousas 2025 RB D'Shaun Ford building momentum off team's surprising state championship run
OPELOUSAS, LOUISIANA - Being built like a Mack truck, Opelousas High junior tailback D'Shaun Ford has become accustomed to questions about his position in football.
With muscles draped on top of muscles, Ford gives off the appearance of a player who can deliver devastating hits to an opponent. And he does, but it's while carrying the ball for the state champion Tigers.
Ford was a terror in middle school as a safety/linebacker hybrid. Opelousas High coach Jimmy Zachery Jr. would watch his future player and imagine him chasing down ballcarriers on the high school level.
"D'Shaun changed my mind really quickly coming out of eighth-grade," Zachery said. "He was a great defensive player in middle school as a drop safety. He can run that alley as well as anybody I've seen.
"That intrigues you. But when we put him at running back on the scout team as a freshman against the first team defense, he had his way with them. He changed my mind quickly. Nobody could tackle him."
Ford has become synonymous with the zenith of Opelousas High football. As a sophomore, he ran for 247 yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns and a two-point conversion as the Tigers clinched their first district title since 1994 with a 45-0 win at Breaux Bridge.
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He was named District 5-4A MVP that season and broke the school's single-game rushing record with a nine-carry, 317-yard, four-touchdown performance vs. Beau Chene.
This past season, he established a new school career rushing record, as well as a new single-season rushing record, while leading the Tigers to their first-ever state title.
"We hang our hat on running the football," Zachery said. "He reminds me of a Mark Ingram-type, a one-cut guy who can get downhill."
According to Ford, he checks in at 5-foot-11 and 210 pounds. He looks much bigger than that - probably because it's all muscle. He squats 605 pounds and seems to always fall forward for extra yardage.
"I never stop pushing and pumping my feet," he explained. "If you get in the way, I'm going to run you over."
Due to his physique, Ford has fielded queries about the idea of playing defense on the next level.
"I would play (linebacker) if I had to, but I'm a running back," said Ford, who is listed by Rivals as a four-star prospect, the No. 5 player in Louisiana and the No. 14 running back in the nation.
His offer sheet includes LSU, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Auburn and Florida State, among others. Ford says Southeastern Conference schools Tennessee and Mississippi State are showing the most interest.
"D'Shaun hasn't revealed his favorite school," Zachery said. "We've told him to keep it private."
The Tigers defeated district rival Cecilia, 26-13, in the state championship, which was a rematch of a regular season game won by the Bulldogs. Opelousas led by two touchdowns twice in the first meeting, but Cecilia came back to win, 25-22.
The Tigers never lost again, reeling off seven straight victories including playoff wins as the No. 12 seed over fifth-seeded West Feliciana, No. 4 Lutcher and No. 1 North DeSoto in the semifinals. All three of those wins came on the road.
"It meant a lot to the community," Ford said. "We brought the city together. People from other schools were repping the orange and black."
As soon as the season ended, Ford helped himself to the weight room, even though the team's official workouts hadn't started yet.
"D'Shaun is all gas, no brakes," Zachery said.
Photo of Opelousas tailback D'Shaun Ford (right, receiving a handoff from quarterback Zach Malveaux) by Robin May, The Acadiana Advocate
-- Mike Coppage | @SBLiveLA
