On a season of memorable nights, Bushnell- Prairie City junior running back Jonavan Harrell had his most memorable yet.
Harrell rushed for a school-record 385 yards and six touchdowns, all in the opening half, as the Spartans raced past Blue Ridge/ DeLand-Weldon 62-12 in Illinois 8-Man Football Association crossover action Friday evening at Bushnell.
B-PC improved to 5-3 on the season, while Blue Ridge slipped to 2-6.
“I was really impressed with how our players responded coming out of the bye week,” said B-PC coach Jacob Schisler. “They came out with great energy and played hard the entire game.”
Just like days gone by when “Hulk-a-mania” ran wild in the World Wrestling Federation, there was little the Knights could do against “Harrell-mania” in the opening half of Friday’s contest on the football field at B-PC High School.
Out of his 12 rushing attempts, Harrell scored on runs of 33, 76, 37, 6, 71 and 73 yards on the way to setting the school’s record.
He also set single-season records (for now) of 2,240 rushing yards and 31 touchdowns. Previously, the single game rushing leader was James Miller with 374 yards set back during the 2010 season.
Dylan King tacked on a 57-yard touchdown run for B-PC as the Spartans led 48-6 at halftime.
The Knights’ lone score came on a 65-yard kickoff return by Kymond Bischoff. That came after Harrell’s sixth TD had given the Spartans a 42-0 lead with just under four minutes left in the second quarter.
“Offensively, I thought we did a great job of getting Jonavan the ball in space and allowing him to make plays,” said Schisler. “Our blockers did an excellent job getting to the second level and creating opportunities for him.”
“Dylan King also had a great night running the football,” he added. “It’s great having that one-two punch in the backfield.”
King added 68 yards on just four carries as the Spartans finished with 501 yards rushing.
Meanwhile, Blue Ridge running back Chase Ellis, who entered the game with 1,399 rushing yards and 17 TDs had a far different evening.
After a 23-yard run on his first carry of the night, the junior managed just 10 yards on his next 16 attempts of the opening half.
He did score on a 28-yard run in the second half, but needed 29 carries in finishing with 104 yards.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team combined for minus 2 yards rushing on 10 carries.
Knights quarterback Preston Jiles was 0-for-6 with one interception by Hunter Thompson.
“Defensively, I thought we really settled in and took control midway through the first quarter,” said Schisler. “We knew coming into the game that containing Chase Ellis was going to be a priority. We had a strong game plan, and our players executed it well, keeping him in check for most of the night.”
Zaedin Hartin recorded 12 total tackles to spearhead the B-PC defense.
Patrick Raines and Lear added six tackles each, followed by King with five that included four for-loss.
Andre Watts, honored along with teammate Braxton Kempf before the game in Senior Night activities, also finished with five tackles.
After Ellis scored to make it 48-12, the Spartans added two TDs in the final period.
Landon Lear recovered a fumble on a punt return 24 yards for a score before Zaedin Hart added a 37-yard TD run.
The Spartans wrap up the regular season Friday night, making the trip to Pawnee to face host Pawnee/Lincolnwood (7-1) in an I8FA crossover contest that carries playoff implications for both teams.
“Now our focus shifts to Pawnee, a team that likes to throw the football,” said Schisler. “We know that will present a different challenge for our defense, but this win gives us a huge boost in confidence and momentum heading into next week.”
“Our goal is to build off this performance and continue improving as a team,” he added.
Following next week’s game, the Spartans will await their postseason fate when the I8FA playoff pairings are announced.
