East Bladen to retire Farrell, Larrell Murchison jerseys

Two of the best football players to don an East Bladen football uniform will have their jersey numbers retired Tuesday, Feb. 10 at a ceremony during the school’s basketball games against Lakewood.

Elizabethtown twins Farrell and Larrell Murchison are expected to be in attendance as the school officially retires No. 23 and No. 26, respectively. They graduated from East Bladen in 2015.

“We’ve been waiting for a good time where we could get them here,” East Bladen football coach Robby Priest. “It’s finally getting done. We’re happy to get it done now.”

Farrell Murchison was a 6-foot-2, 230 pound running back and middle linebacker. He is listed three times in the N.C. High School Athletic Association record book. Farrell is tied for 31st for most rushing touchdowns in a season with 37 in 2014, 46th in career rushing yards with 5,700 from 2012-14 and 72nd for most rushing yards in a season with 2,491 in 2014.

Larrell Murchison was a 6-foot-4, 265 pound fullback and defensive linemen for the Eagles. He served as the lead blocker for Farrell, but also scored five touchdowns and averaged 7.8 yards per carry on 70 rushing attempts his senior season.

“I think it was my first or second year as head coach and they were sophomores,” Priest said. “I had to move up those two and about five more (from junior varsity) and that group helped make the transition from Coach (Lenon) Fisher to me. That group laid the foundation. Everything they did on and off the field while they were here and what they’re continuing to do now hasn’t been duplicated a whole lot.”

The Eagles had a 20-6 record during the Murchisons junior and senior seasons.

“You could count on both of them,” Priest said. “I knew on any given night Farrell was going to go for at least 200 yards. It was a gift, a blessing to have him.

“We moved Larrell to fullback about the fourth or fifth game and things kind of took off. When you have a 260 pound fullback leading a 230 pound running back through the hole it kind of works out in your favor.

“They both were raised right. Their parents (Glenda and Milton Murchison) did a great job with them,” Priest said.

The Murchison brothers each played two seasons at Louisburg Junior College.

In their freshmen seasons at Louisburg, Farrell rushed for 675 yards and scored seven touchdowns in seven games while Larrell had 18 tackles, 1.5 sacks and six tackles for loss.

In 2016, as sophomores at Louisburg, Farrell scored 10 touchdowns and ran for 947 yards in nine games while Larrell had 41 tackles, 5.5 sacks and 17.5 tackles for loss.

After junior college, Larrell signed to play at N.C. State and Farrell signed to play at Winston-Salem State.

Farrell rushed for 542 yards and four touchdowns in his first season at Winston-Salem State. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2018 and missed the season. Successfully treated and fully recovered, he returned to playing football in 2019 and ran for 663 yards and nine touchdowns in 10 games for the Rams.

Larrell sat out the 2017 season at N.C. State then had 80 tackles, 20 tackles for loss and 11 sacks as a defensive lineman for the Wolfpack. He was named second team All-ACC.

Larrell was selected in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL draft by the Tennessee Titans. He played parts of three seasons with the Titans before being picked up by the Los Angeles Rams during the 2022 season. He missed the 2024 season due to injury. In 60 NFL games, he has been credited with 45 tackles, seven tackles for loss and four quarterback sacks.