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Residents refer to the south-central region of Florida that incorporates Pahokee and Belle Glade as “the Muck,” which describes the dark, moist soil that is well-suited for growing sugar cane.

But the Muck — a desperately poor area where the per-capita income is about $13,000, and the unemployment rate hovers at 40 percent — grows something besides sugar. It grows very good football players, an inordinately high number of them.

Pahokee High and Glades Central High, schools located 12 miles apart on the shores of Lake Okeechobee, have a combined enrollment of about 1,700, yet in 2009 they accounted for an astounding 42 players on the rosters of Football Bowl Subdivision teams. Twenty-seven were wide receivers, running backs or defensive backs, positions that require speed, and plenty of it. The numbers suggest that the Muck is the most fertile recruiting ground in America, a preferred destination for college coaches on the prowl for players who are lickety-split from Point A to Point B while wearing helmets and shoulder pads.

Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez, whose Wolverines (5-2, 1-2 Big Ten) visit Penn State (4-3, 1-2) on Saturday night in Beaver Stadium, has a pipeline to the Muck — and all of Florida, for that matter — he established while at West Virginia. Eleven players from the Sunshine State are on the Wolverines’ roster, including seven at skill positions, with four from Pahokee High: sophomore running back Vincent Smith, sophomore safety Brandin Hawthorne, junior wide receiver Martavious Odoms and freshman defensive tackle Richard Ash. Together, they would form a pretty good 4×100-meter relay team, even if Ash is 6-3 and 320 pounds.

If players from the Muck are known for anything, it is quickness and the ability to change direction on a dime, a trait highly prized by coaches who understand that straight-ahead speed is terrific in track and field, but not as much in football, in which the ability to move well laterally and backward is necessary.

Such maneuverability is the reason Rodriguez took a chance on Smith, whose listed size of 5-7 and 180 pounds is not only inaccurate (he says he’s only 175), but misleading. When Rodriguez offered him a grant-in-aid, Smith was 5-6 and weighed 159 pounds soaking wet. Players that small aren’t supposed to start in big-boy conferences such as the Big Ten.

But speed kills, or so they say, which is why Rodriguez’ Penn State counterpart, Joe Paterno, rolled the dice with a tiny speedster from Maryland, 5-7, 160-pound sophomore wide receiver Devon Smith. Sure, guys like that are smaller than a coach would prefer, but it doesn’t seem to matter if they appear even smaller as they pull away from opposing players chasing them from behind.

So, why are players from the Muck so blindingly fast? Rabbits. If you can catch one with your bare hands, you’re probably very fast and very quick, and kids from the Muck learn to do so at an early age, out of necessity. Rabbits sell for $2 apiece, $3.50 if they’re cleaned and dressed. That makes for a sizable chunk of income for cash-strapped families, and those that remain unsold can go on the supper table.

“I caught three my first time out when I was a kid,” said Smith, Michigan’s second-leading rusher, who has been timed at 4.4 seconds over 40 yards. “Every time I go home in the spring when it’s rabbit season, I go out on the field and test my luck.”