Maricopa High School star running back Randel Barber has signed a Letter of Intent to continue his football career at Minot (N.D.) State.

The Rams’ ace signed with the Beavers during a ceremony at the school gym Wednesday afternoon, with his mother, Kimberlee Morris, MHS head football coach Cory Nenaber and athletic Director Brian Winter, among others, looking on.

“I wasn’t expecting this,” the soft-spoken Barber said after the signing, which gives him a four-year full scholarship. “It feels pretty good."

His mother was also excited.

“I am very much looking forward to this opportunity,” she said regarding her son, who according to Nenaber put in a tremendous amount of work, both on the football field and in the classroom, to qualify for the scholarship.

“I’m so proud of this guy and how hard he’s worked the last semester to be able to have this opportunity,” he said. Barber is the first player in Nenaber’s two years with the Rams to earn a scholarship.

“We preach to our guys, work hard and you’ll be able to get opportunities. I know he’s going to have a great career up there.”

The change in weather between Arizona and North Dakota won’t be quite as big a shock to Barber as it might be for some of his teammates. He grew up in the Chicago area before moving to Maricopa about seven years ago.

Minot State is a member of NCAA Division II, reaching that level last season after previously having played in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The Beavers were 2-7 last season and plan to use Barber, who was also a standout defensive back, as a running back and kick returner.

In his senior year, Barber gained 1,384 yards, an average of 6.5 per carry. He scored 21 rushing touchdowns, along with two on kick returns.

He was chosen honorable mention all-state Division III all-purpose by Rivals.com and was a first-team kick returner and second-team defensive back in Section I. He also was the team Most Valuable Player, offensive MVP and captain.

A year ago, in the 4A2 East Sky Region he earned second-team honors as a defensive back and kick returner.

Barber chose between two northern schools, Minot and Bemidji State of Minnesota after visiting both. The two schools will play each other in the final game of the 2012 season.

Barber said he was impressed by Minot head coach Paul Rudolph and his staff.

“The coaches all seemed to be people I can relate to,” Barber said, comparing them with Nenaber and his staff. “They seem to understand that if you have any problems they will talk to you. Good people to be coached by.”

Rudolph, in turn, said Barber is someone who can come in and contribute quickly.

“We think he’s an awfully good football player,” Rudolph said. “Not only is he a heck of a running back, a guy that’s got breakaway speed, but by the same token he’s also a guy who can return kicks, he can play safety, he can play corner. He brings a whole lot of diversity. I don’t think you can go wrong with a good, quiet-acting guy off the field. I think we got a good one.

“One of the things we didn’t have this fall was a guy who can turn an average run into a big run, and we really feel like he’s got that kind of ability. A guy like that can change the entire outcome of a game.”

Nenaber said he helped Barber and Minot hook up.

“We put a lot of money into our online video software. It enables kids to make their own highlight films. We send email links to coaches at the level that we think the players are around to coaches and those guys can watch them online.”

Nenaber gives a lot of credit to Assistant Coach Aaron Frana.

“He coached with a lot of those guys up there. He has a ton of contacts up there, and so much of this business is who you know,” Nenaber said.

“He took four online classes on top of a full load to be able to raise his GPA.” Nenaber said.

“It’s such a tribute to him for the work he did, on his own. He registered in the middle of September and had it done by Christmas in four extra classes,” Nenaber said of the online courses. “And he got a 3.5 GPA in school.”

“I’ve seen him grow so much as an athlete and as a person and a leader of our program.

“It’s great for our community to know that you can come to Maricopa High School and you can get yourself a scholarship. If you’re good, they are going to find you.”

Minot will play in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and plays its first game Aug. 30 against Minnesota St.-Mankato.