Best known for much of his athletic career as the younger brother of Jordan Brock, the all-state Harlan guard who led the Lady Dragons to two 13th Region titles, John Brady Brock has established a name for himself in track and football, where he has posted two straight strong campaigns in the Harlan backfield.

Back for his senior season, Brock will likely be a workhorse the Dragons this fall after rushing for a team-high 765 yards and seven touchdowns last season.

“I’ve told him for us to be successful he needs to have 1,000 yards,” Harlan coach John Luttrell said. “He will be a big part of our running game.”

Brock has continued to improve after establishing himself as one of the leaders in the Harlan offense when he rushed for 474 yards as a sophomore, second behind only Kendal Brock. When Kendal Brock went down with a knee injury, John Brady Brock took over as the primary ball carrier last year and led the 3-8 Dragons in yardage and touchdowns.

“He had to step up last year and did a good job. He’s the fastest kid we have, around 4.5. He really worked hard and it showed in track. I think he won the region in the hurdles and was third in the 100-meter hurdles,” Luttrell said.

Brock gives much of the credit to his success for what he described as a “competitive” atmosphere growing up with his sister and his dad, Scott, a former standout running back at Cawood High School.

“If you grow up in a competitive family you are competitive in everything you do. You make everything a competition,” he said. “We tried to be better than each other in everything we did.”

“Scott, his dad, was a tough player,” Luttrell said. “He graduated the year before I got to Cawood (as an assistant coach under Tim Saylor), but I saw him on film. John Brady has that toughness in him and that makes a big difference for a running back.”

“He influenced me a lot and knows what to talk to me about to push me to be better,” said Brock of his dad’s influence on his career.

Brock decided several years ago to take a different direction than his famous sister, who is now at Tennessee Tech, choosing football and track instead of basketball.

“She’d make me go rebound for her, but that was about it. She got all the talent in basketball,” said Brock, who admitted he did learn from watching Jordan play. “You have to give 100 percent every single play, every game,”

Brock also plays an important role in the Harlan defense at linebacker or cornerback, where he ranked seventh on the team last season with 34 tackles. He will likely to open the year at cornerback.

“He’s aggressive and hits well. He has good speed and can match up with receivers pretty well,” Luttrell said. “He’s so versatile that he could also play outside linebacker, or even shift inside if we need him there.”

With Will Varner coming off an impressive summer performance at quarterback and Kilian Ledford back as a quarterback or receiver, the Dragons could be putting the ball in the air more this season. Brock knows an improved passing game could take a little pressure off him in the backfield and open up a few more running lanes.

He’s really worked on his catching. He had some trouble with that before, but he’s put a lot of work into in the off-season. A kid like that out of the backfield is a weapon,” Luttrell said. “He’s also such a great – he’s polite, works hard and is always where you want him to be. He’s a big part of what we want to do this year.”

Harlan won a district championship in 2015 during Brock’s freshman season and he’d like nothing better than to close his career the same way with a 10-man senior class leading the way.

“I feel like we have a lot of potential,” Brock said. “We have some good leaders on this team who have been here for four years. I’m excited about my senior year. All our seniors want to go out with a good season.”

Harlan will be at home on Aug. 10 for the Southeastern Kentucky Conference Gridorama and open the regular season on Aug. 17 at Floyd Central.