Jaamal Berry was watching Columbus High's spring intrasquad scrimmage two weeks ago when he ran into Miami-Dade County's all-time leading rusher Frank Gore.

It didn't take long for Berry, one of the nation's premier running backs in the Class of 2009, to challenge the former Coral Gables High and University of Miami grad with a friendly wager.

''I didn't tell him I was going to go after his record,'' said Berry, a 5-11, 193-pound running back from Palmetto Senior High who heads into his senior season with a list of 25 scholarship offers.

``I just told him that I was going to have more yards than his cousin [Columbus High 2010 standout Jakhari Gore] and [Killian's] Lamar Miller and that I'd was going to lead Dade in rushing this year. We had some fun joking about it. But I know deep down inside we all seriously want to win it.''

Berry, who ran for 1,033 yards and 14 touchdowns on 140 carries as a junior, will need to do a little better than he did last year if he wants to win that bet.

Last season, Miller (1,122 yards, 12 TDs on 165 carries), Southwest High's Hosey Williams (1,120 yards, 20 TDs on 134 attempts) and Gore (1,106 yards, 13 TDs on 114 attempts) each finished with more yardage than Berry amongst the top underclassmen in the county.

What Berry will not have to do anymore is worry about impressing college scouts. He did a great job of that when he dropped his 40-yard dash time from 4.43 seconds at a Nike Combine in February to a Devin Hester-like 4.31 a month later at a Scout.com combine inside the Dolphins' practice bubble in Davie.

''Everyone at the combine couldn't believe it. They went crazy and I was real happy,'' said Berry, whose video highlight package on YouTube includes a clip of him running the 40. ``I just felt like I was gliding on the ground.''

The blazing time helped Berry glide right up the nation's recruiting charts -- past Miller in Rivals.com (Berry is now 37th; Miller 80th) -- and into a consensus, five-star, blue-chip, Top 100 national recruit.

After receiving just one scholarship offer (from Mississippi) during his junior season, Berry said he picked up six (Florida, Florida State, LSU and Ohio State) the week he ran a 4.43 at the Nike Combine and a ''ton more'' after running the 4.31.

Berry said his mother, Eartha, has kept all of the written scholarship offers for him and said she plans to put a few of them up in frames in his room by the end of the summer.

By then, Berry hopes the school he grew up rooting for -- the University of Miami -- would have given him an offer. But the Hurricanes, who already have an oral commitment from Wichita Kansas's Bryce Brown (the nation's No. 1 running back in the 2009 class), are said to be only looking to sign two running backs this February. And the Canes have already extended their other offer to Miller.

''I'm not mad or hurt or anything like that,'' Berry said. ``I know they already got Bryce and I know they offered Lamar before I really came on the scene. So, I'm not mad at them. I'd love to have an offer. Coach [Micheal] Barrow tells me all the time he'd love to give me one, but it's not his call. Besides, if Miami offered it's not like I'd commit right away. I'd consider them for sure. But they'd be just one of the schools in the mix.''

Even if the Hurricanes don't offer, Berry still has plenty of suitors. His Top 10 list includes Ohio State, Florida, Florida State, Michigan, Mississippi, Auburn, Clemson, LSU, West Virginia and Boston College. He says he really likes Ohio State a lot -- especially after taking an unofficial trip to watch the Buckeyes' spring game with several other local highly-touted 2009 recruits.

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